Nintendo High
by PuppyLuver256
Summary: The life and times of the students and teachers of the most well-known school in Miyamotopolis. The kids are all right and the teachers are just as strange as the students. (This story contains characters from series that aren't featured in Smash, I just couldn't find a "more than two" option in the crossover categories so I used the closest thing. My apologies.)
1. New School Day

_**Nintendo High**_

 _ **Chapter 1: New School Year**_

"Mario! Get up! Come on, bro, we're gonna be late for school!"

A boy dressed in green was trying to shake his brother awake, though it was proving to be difficult. Mario Segali wasn't exactly a morning person. "Nngh..." he moaned. "Luigi, what time is it...?"

"It's time to get up, bro!" Luigi said, pulling the red comforter off of Mario's bed. "We can't be late for the first day of our senior year!" Too impatient to wait any longer, he ran out of Mario's room and down the stairs.

"All right..." Mario begrudgingly got out of bed and got dressed, then followed his brother downstairs. Their mother had already left for work, so the brothers each grabbed a package of Pop-Tarts and headed out for the bus.

* * *

The bus arrived at Nintendo High quicker than expected, passing through the high-tech security gates. Normally the gates only opened upon sensing an authorization signal that was generated by both devices in the buses and every student and staff's ID card, but the gates were left open during school hours of the first week for new students to get their IDs. When the bus pulled up to the drop-off, it brushed up onto the curb. "Hey, sidewalk!" the driver shouted. "Get outta my way!"

Mario and Luigi were among the first to get off the bus, followed by a pink Kopidama, a brown-haired boy wearing a red hat, and many others. The last one off the bus was a tan-skinned boy with frizzy blond hair, wearing mostly yellow. He seemed nervous, shying away from the others. A guy on a motorcycle with a flaming horse design painted on the side drove by the Segali brothers, parking in a spot near the entrance of the school. The guy pulled the helmet off his head and lightly brushed his dirty blond hair out of his eyes.

"Hey, Link!" Mario called out to the motorcycle boy. "See you finally got that motorcycle you've been wanting since forever."

Link took of his biking jacket, put both it and his helmet in the motorcycle's side box and pulled out a knit hat that was the same green as the shirt he wore. "Yeah, it took two summers of working at Lon Lon Ranch," he said with a relieved sigh, "but I have to say, it was completely worth it. I even named it." He pointed to the horse design on the side and smiled. "Epona, after one of the horses there."

"That's pretty cool," Mario said.

Just then, Bowser, a spike-shelled Koopa and one of the school bullies, made his way over to Mario and Link. He was obviously quite furious for some reason. "Hey, pretty boy!" he shouted, pointing at Link. "Catch!" He threw a scrawny boy dressed in orange who seemed to be made of wood at them. Link caught the boy, but the impact knocked him backwards over Epona.

"Bowser, you jerk!" Mario yelled. "What was that for?!"

"Ask the stick," Bowser snorted. "I'm outta here." He stormed off towards the school doors, muttering angrily to himself.

Mario helped Link and the wooden boy off the ground. "Rigby, you okay?" Link asked the wooden boy. "What happened?"

Rigby put on an angry face, though both Mario and Link could tell he wasn't serious. "I told you not to call me Rigby anymore!" he exclaimed. "I'm the Skull Kid now!" He laughed. "Eh, Bowser's just an oversensitive pinhead. He thought I called him a 'fat son of a gun', but I was just trash-talking the boss in my game."

The three had a good laugh, then they hurried to make it inside before the bell rung.

* * *

All the students shuffled their way into the auditorium, looking for a good seat before the start-of-year assembly started. Pika sat by himself, sighing that he still had not met anyone who would even give him the time of day. At that moment, a boy in a red hat approached him. "Excuse me, mind if I sit here?" the boy asked. "You look like you could use the company."

"Oh, sure," Pika replied. "Go right ahead."

"Thanks," the boy said. He sat down beside Pika. A moment passed before the boy turned to Pika. "So, you new around here?" he asked. "I know pretty much everyone in the area, and I'm pretty familiar with a lot of the incoming freshmen as well."

"Yeah, I moved here over the summer," Pika said. "I used to live in Hawaii. I'm a freshman too, so it shouldn't be too hard to adjust."

"Hawaii, huh? Sounds cool." The boy held his hand out for Pika to shake. "Name's Red, by the way. You?"

"I'm Pika," Pika replied, taking Red's handshake offer. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Pika," Red said happily.

Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi were sitting with their girlfriends, Peach and Daisy, respectively. They were a tight-knit group of friends even without the romance, but they hadn't had much time to get together as a group over the summer. "So, girls, how was your summer?" Luigi asked.

"I spent the summer skiing in Colorado," Peach said, seeming slightly embarrassed to say it. It was widely known that Peach's father was a wealthy banker, so her family was very well-off.

"Why would you wanna go somewhere cold during the summer?" Daisy asked.

"Well, the beach isn't that much fun when you already live in a coastal city..."

"Skiing sounds pretty cool," Mario said. He motioned towards Luigi and himself. "We didn't really do much, ourselves."

The chatter began to die down as a white-haired man in a white suit stepped onto the stage. He approached the podium near the front of the stage and tapped the microphone. "Good morning, everyone," the man announced to the students. "To our incoming freshmen, let me extend a warm welcome to Nintendo High. My name is Hans Masterson. I am the principal of this school, and I will be happy to help you with anything from now until your graduation. To our returning students, welcome back for another year. I hope your summer vacations were all enjoyable and that your next year with us is fruitful. Now, if you would," (he motioned toward the left exit doors) "freshmen should exit through the left and make your way to the cafeteria to get your ID pictures taken." He motioned toward the right exit doors. "Sophomores, juniors, and seniors should exit through the right and head to your homeroom. Have a wonderful first day!"


	2. Classes are a Pain

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 2: Classes are a Pain  
** (Originally posted on deviantART on April 24, 2012.)_

Homeroom with M. C. Ballyhoo was...interesting, to say the least, as were his normal classes. Students in Ballyhoo's classes were typically very enthusiastic about the subject at hand, as the man had a talent for making even current events interesting for the kids of today. "All right, everyone!" Ballyhoo exclaimed, holding a stack of papers. "I'll be passing out your schedules now. I hope you got all the classes you wanted!" He began passing out the papers to each student.

"So," Mario asked Luigi upon both receiving their schedules. "What's your first class, bro?"

Luigi quickly checked his schedule. "Looks like I have Worlds History with Mrs. Mort," he replied. "What about you?"

"I got..." Mario looked at his class list, but let out a groan upon seeing who the teacher was. "Senior English with Toadsworth."

"Sounds like fun," Luigi said sarcastically.

"No kidding," Mario moaned. "Peach had him for junior English last year. She told me how he just drones on and on and never really gets to the point of anything."

Soon, it was time for everyone to head to their first period. Mario and Luigi's first classes were both in the same hall, so they headed in that direction together. On their way, they passed the Kopidama that had been on the bus with them. He was carrying a small pile of breakfast foods. "Darn," the Kopidama said to himself. "I got all this stuff, and now I'm not so sure that I actually want all of it."

"Hey, Kirby," Mario greeted the Kopidama cheerfully.

"Oh, hiya, guys!" Kirby replied with a smile. "Um...either of you want some of my extra breakfast food?"

"I'm good, thanks," Luigi said.

Mario looked over Kirby's selection of food. "Do you have a breakfast pizza?" he asked.

"Sure," Kirby said. "Here you go." He handed Mario a breakfast pizza wrapped in a slightly greasy napkin.

"Thanks!" Mario exclaimed.

"No problem, Kirby replied. He smiled, then hurried on to his class.

"...Breakfast pizza?" Luigi asked his brother, perhaps confused about the concept of such.

"The Pop-Tarts didn't fill me up," Mario said matter-of-factly.

* * *

At this point in the day, Link was really wishing he had gone to sleep earlier the previous night. It was taking all his willpower to stay awake, and that was saying something considering that falling asleep during public speaking class with the fairy teacher Navi was incredibly difficult. However, his brief consideration of pretending his textbook was a pillow was interrupted by a light impact to the back of his head, followed by something shifting down between his shirt and undershirt. He fished it out from between his shirts to see that it was a paper wad. Opening it, he was greeted by an obscene drawing that, if described, would raise the rating of this story from somewhere between PG and PG-13 to probably the high end of R. The drawing was labeled with a note reading "this is you". Link turned around to see the only person who would be both suspicious enough and capable of throwing the paper; Dedede, a penguin-like individual and a minor bully who liked to hang out with Bowser.

Upon noticing Link, Dedede quickly looked away. Link glared at Dedede in annoyance for throwing the paper wad. "What?" Dedede muttered, playing innocent.

Link turned back around, knowing that he wouldn't be able to oust Dedede as a class distraction until after class was over. However, almost immediately after turning back to the front, another paper wad struck Link in the same spot. Link quickly turned back to face Dedede and shouted, "Knock it off!"

"HEY!" Navi exclaimed from the front of the room. "If you have something to say, raise your hand first!" Link glanced around to see a few of his classmates staring at him due to his shout.

"But...I...Dede..." Link tried to explain himself, but Navi flew over to the space in between his seat and Dedede's.

"Both of you, see me after class, please," Navi told them. Later, after class, Link and Dedede were staying behind as told. Navi hovered in front of them as they tried to avoid eye contact, which wasn't too difficult as their eyes were about the same size as Navi's head. "So," Navi said calmly, "what's going on between you two?"

"I dunno, Ms. Navi," Dedede replied, trying to seem innocent. "Link's just freaking out for no reason."

"Yeah, and the paper wads that hit my head were thrown by a ghost in the classroom," Link snarked. He waved at Prince Boo as he passed by them.

Navi sighed. "Well, in all honesty, I saw the whole thing," she said. "I just wanted to hear it from the both of you." She turned to Link. "May I see the papers Dedede threw at you, please?"

"I...I don't think you want to," Link said nervously. "They've kind of...they've kind of got some nasty drawings on 'em."

"I think I'll survive." Link handed Navi the papers and she looked them over. "Dedede," Navi said, "as a junior, you should be more mature during class. Throwing papers at your classmates is very distracting, and especially when they contain obscene artwork. These aren't even anatomically correct!" She wadded the papers up and threw them in the trash. "I'll let you off with a warning this time, but don't let it happen again. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Dedede said with a sigh. He picked up his backpack and left the classroom.

Navi then turned her attention to Link. "I don't want you to think you're in trouble, Link," she said warmly. "I just wanted both of you to be able to explain the situation like mature young adults. I'll write you a note to your next class, but next time there's a problem, please tell me instead of shouting about it in the middle of class. Okay?"

"Okay, Ms. Navi," Link said.

* * *

Second period for both Mario and Luigi was PE. While the school's PE classes had students of both genders, as there was only one gym, classes were doubled up with the boys reporting to Donkey Kong, the school's football coach. "All right, class!" Donkey Kong (or as most of the student body addressed him, Coach DK) exclaimed upon taking roll. "We're gonna have a fun year together, as long as you follow these three simple rules: try your hardest, play fair, and for god's sake, do _not_ make goo-goo eyes at Ms. Aran." Predictably, many of the boys' turned their gaze toward where the girls had reported. With the girls was the second gym teacher, Samus Aran, who was not only the coach of the ladies' basketball team, but was also fairly good-looking.

"What did I _just_ say?!" DK reprimanded the boys. They mumbled some quick apologies. DK shook his head in disappointment, knowing he would probably get chewed out by Samus later if she noticed. "All right, then," he said. "Now you guys go take a couple warm-up laps around the gym while I get things set up for today's class." The students of both classes dispersed and began to either walk or run around the gym at their own pace. DK took the time to pull aside a Gerudo boy by the name of Ganondorf Dragmire. "So, Dragmire," he said in a friendly tone, "are you thinking of joining the football team this year?"

"My answer's still no, Mr. Kong," Ganondorf replied, slightly annoyed. "Team sports aren't really my thing."

"You sure?" DK asked, disappointed. "This year's the last chance you have if you want to join, after all."

"I'm completely sure," Ganondorf said. Later on, a cart carrying basketballs was brought out and the basketball hoops were lowered. DK and Samus taught the class how to play basketball, starting with learning to throw free throws, something Samus was better at doing than DK since she was the coach of the ladies' basketball team. After a while, it was time for class to end. As the students gathered their things and filed out of the gym, an older gentleman in a lab coat stepped in.

"Ah, good morning!" the gentleman said to Coach DK and Samus. "Mr. Kong, Ms. Aran." He shook each of their hands.

"Good morning, Dr. Oak," Samus replied. "Do you need help getting anything set up for your class?"

"No, but thank you for offering," Dr. Oak said with a smile. "Though if you could get the remote to open the pool for me, that would be nice." Soon enough, a new, smaller group of students started to file into the gym, among them being Red, his friend Leaf, and Oak's grandson Blue. Each student was carrying a Pokéball on their person. "Ah, good morning, everyone," Oak greeted them. "Welcome back, glad we could be together for another year. I'm sure that you've all been waiting for this part of the course since last year, so let's get started. Today, we're going to start covering Pokémon battles, from the basic mechanics to advanced strategies."

"This is gonna be so exciting!" Leaf whispered to both Red and Blue.

"Whatever," Blue said indifferently. "I'm only here because I couldn't think of another elective. I could learn this stuff any time I felt like it."

"We know he's your grandfather," Red told him. "You don't have to rub it in."

"All right, then," Oak said, clapping his hands together. "I feel there's no better teacher than experience when it comes to battling, so I'm going to need a volunteer for a practice battle. Any takers?"

Almost immediately, Red's hand shot up into the air. "I'll go!" he exclaimed. He had been waiting to get some battle experience for some time now.

"Excellent!" Oak said. "I had a feeling one of you three would volunteer." He motioned Red to step forward and pulled out a Pokéball of his own. Red released his Pokémon, which was a Charmeleon, a Fire-type Pokémon resembling a bipedal lizard with a flame on its tail. Oak released his own Pokémon, a Pikachu, a mouse-like Electric-type. "Now," Oak began to explain, "when starting a battle, it's important to pay attention to the type match-up between your Pokémon and your opponent's. As you already know, Pokémon have different strengths and weaknesses against certain attacks depending on what type they are. Can anyone give me an example of a type of move that would be super-effective against your Pokémon?" Leaf raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Verdant?"

"My Ivysaur would be weak to Fire-type attacks because of his Grass type," Leaf answered, "as well as a Psychic-type attack due to his Poison-type."

"Excellent." Oak said. "I was about to mention dual-typed Pokémon myself." He turned to the rest of the class. "Yes, some Pokémon have two types instead of just one, and the combination of the two affects their strengths and weaknesses just as critically as it does for single-typed Pokémon. In some cases, a Pokémon may gain or change a secondary type upon evolving. For instance, if Red's Charmeleon here were fully evolved, my Pikachu would have a slight advantage. Can anyone tell me why that is?"

Blue raised his hand. Upon being called, he replied, "Charizard has Flying as its secondary type, and Electric-type attacks are super-effective against Flying-types."

"That's my boy!" Oak said proudly. "Yes, if Red had a Charizard, my Pikachu would have a slight, yet shocking, advantage. However, type match-up alone does not determine victory. The moves a Pokémon has learned are also very important. Red could have taught his Charmeleon a Ground-type move, which is super-effective against Electric-type Pokémon like Pikachu. But rather than just talk about it, let's put your knowledge to the test." The two combatants and their Pokémon moved out into a more open part of the gym to begin their battle. "Since Red here is the challenger, I'll allow him to make the first move. Whenever you're ready, Red."

"All right." Red grinned and turned his cap around. "Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"


	3. A Shocking Sendoff

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 3: A Shocking Send-off  
** (Originally posted on deviantART on May 31, 2012.)_

Three classes down, one to go. Pika made his way to his fourth class of the day, keeping his distance from most everyone, at least until he accidentally bumped into Bowser. Bowser turned around, an unnecessary rage in his eyes. "Watch where you're going, punk!" he shouted.

"S-sorry!" Pika said nervously. "So sorry! I'll be more careful next time." He tried to move out of the way, but then a sinking feeling hit him. Bowser was standing right beside his locker in such a way that Pika wouldn't be able to get into it unless the Koopa bully moved out of the way. "Um...excuse me, my locker's..." He didn't get much more out before being interrupted by Bowser's angry glare in his direction. "N-never mind." He sighed in defeat. "I'll just get my stuff later..."

Pika began to leave, wondering if this would make him late to class, but was soon stopped by an older boy with blue hair and pierced ears. "Hey, new kid," he said calmly, motioning to where Bowser was standing. "Is that your locker over there?"

"Y-yeah," Pika replied.

The blue-haired boy sighed. "Hold on a second." He walked over to Bowser and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Bowser," he said. "This kid needs to get stuff out of his locker, and you're standing right next to it. Could you move out of the way for a bit so he can get his stuff?"

"Fine," Bowser growled. He begrudgingly moved over a bit, giving Pika the opportunity to get the stuff he would need for next class.

"Thanks..." Pika muttered to the blue-haired boy once he was done.

"You shouldn't let yourself get pushed around by guys like him," the blue-haired boy said with concern.

"I know...it was like this in my old school, too..."

The blue-haired boy smiled slightly. "If you want, I can help you learn to be more assertive," he said. He glanced up to a clock on the wall, noticing the time. "That'll have to wait for later, though. Class is about to start." He held out his hand to Pika. "Name's Ruka, by the way."

"Pika." The two shook hands and soon parted ways.

* * *

What set the fourth period class apart from the others was that not only did it last twice as long as the other classes of the day, but it was also when the lunch periods were held. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy were lucky enough to get classes with the same lunch time, so they all sat together. "So, how are everyone's classes going so far?" Peach asked the other three.

"Peach, you weren't kidding when you said Toadsworth was a pain," Mario chuckled. The first day of class, the old Toad had spent more time talking about proper student conduct than explaining what they would be covering that year.

"Yeah, I've heard from other people about how boring he is," Daisy sympathized. "I'm lucky I got Mr. Jones for English instead. Did you know he used to be a magician?"

"I actually have him later today," Luigi said. "What's he like?"

"Well, when it comes to classwork, he's really strict," Daisy explained, "but he's pretty easygoing otherwise. He lets you listen to music while you're working and everything!"

"He sounds kinda like my English teacher, Mrs. Grimsley," Peach said.

"Mrs. Mort's granddaughter?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Peach replied. "She's got a real passion for the material, at least as far as I could tell."

Mario groaned and laid his head on the table. "Now I feel even worse about getting stuck with Toadsworth..."

At that moment, there was a loud commotion on the other side of the cafeteria. A boy wearing a red jacket and dark sunglasses was engaged in a shouting match against a hedgehog boy with blue spines. "What's your problem, Parlouzer?!" the glasses boy shouted. "Why are you targeting me with your airborne trash? Or are you just a lazy slob?!"

"First of all, _Ivo_ , the name's Sonic!" the hedgehog boy protested. "Secondly, it was a complete accident! I was trying to throw the bottle into the trash! Your fat head just happened to be in the way!"

"That answers my first question," Ivo retorted. "Civilized people get up off their lazy rear ends and walk over to the trash can to dispose of their waste! Throwing it from a distance like you did is not only _incredibly_ rude, but also dangerous! If this empty bottle still had something in it, I could have been injured!"

"It's just a friggin' water bottle!" Sonic shouted. "It's not gonna kill you, ya big baby!"

At their table, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy couldn't help but watch as the argument between Ivo and Sonic escalated. "It's the same thing every year," Daisy sighed. She stood up and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Take it outside, you idiots!" she called over to the two.

"Don't get involved, Daisy!" Peach insisted, pulling at Daisy's shirt in order to make her sit back down.

"They just can't leave each other alone, can they?" Luigi asked.

"Tell me about it," Mario agreed. "I can at least act like a decent human being around Bowser. Heck, if someone asked me to list any good points about him that came to mind, I could think of at least two honest good things to say."

"It wasn't like that in middle school, though," Peach giggled, making Mario blush. "I guess it just goes to show how much a person can mature as they get older, huh? Even if it's only a few years."

At that moment, Mario's best friend Yoshi came over to their table, carrying a tray full of fruit. "Hey, guys!" the green dinosaur greeted the group. "Did you guys hear that big argument?"

"Yeah, Ivo and Sonic are at it again," Mario sighed.

"No, not that," Yoshi said, slightly confused as he had missed the water bottle spat. "I'm talking about the argument outside the cafeteria. Apparently Masterson's chewing out the security guard again."

"Seriously?"

"You know, our lunch period's almost over," Peach reminded them. "Oh, I hope that argument's not still going on when we have to leave..."

"Speaking of, we should probably start getting ready to go," Luigi said. He stood up and threw his trash into the nearby trash can. "See you later, Yoshi."

"Bye, Yoshi!" Daisy said. The four seniors left for their class. Unfortunately, Principal Masterson's argument with the school's main security guard had yet to have been resolved, and Mario and friends happened to walk right into it.

"Pliskin, I've told you time and time again, this school is a tobacco-free campus!" Masterson reprimanded the gruff-looking security guard. "If you really want to smoke, then you need to wait until you're at home. You don't have any special permission to smoke while on campus!"

"Sorry, Masterson, I forgot," Officer Pliskin replied. "I mean, it's been about three months since I've had to be here, so it's easy to fall back into the regular habit of—"

"That is no excuse, Pliskin!"

"Calm down, I said I was sorry. What do you want, my head on a plate?"

"Not in the slightest, but if you keep blatantly disregarding the policies of this school, I'll have your job!"

"I...don't think we should be hearing this..." Mario muttered to himself.

Masterson turned, noticing not only Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy, but also the other students that were heading back to class. "Oh, sorry you had to see that, kids," he chuckled nervously. "Adults get into arguments sometimes, too, you know..." He turned to Officer Pliskin with a stern look in his eye. "We'll continue this in my office."

* * *

In English class, Luigi found out exactly what Daisy meant when she had described how Mr. Jones was as a teacher. He had given them an assignment on their first day unlike many of the other teachers, though thankfully it was merely a way to check what they had covered in the previous year's English class. He had also given them assigned seats, the arrangement of which unfortunately had Luigi seated beside Wario. Wario turned toward Luigi and began to poke him in the arm. "What do you want?" Luigi whispered.

"I need a pencil," Wario replied.

Luigi turned back around, ignoring him. However, Wario began to jab him in the arm again. "Will you stop that?" Luigi snapped.

"Give me a pencil, loser," Wario repeated.

"Why are you asking me?"

"I know you keep like ten pencils on you," Wario insisted. "Give me one so I can do this stupid paper."

"Nice try," Luigi retorted. "I only brought one pencil today."

"You're full of crap!" Wario shouted. "Give me a friggin' pencil!"

Wario was suddenly smacked in the face by a small, thin object. Mr. Jones had thrown a pencil at him, thankfully not hitting his eye. "Mr. De Luca!" Mr. Jones said firmly. "Stop disrupting your classmate. There's a pencil for you, use that."

"Okay..." Wario mumbled, rubbing his cheek where the pencil hit.

* * *

The last class of the day came and went in seemingly no time at all. Soon the final bell was rung and everyone made their way to the parking lot, either to get in their cars, meet up with their ride, or catch the bus. As Pika made his way to the bus, he found himself stopped by a large hand grabbing the hood of his jacket. He turned to face the person who grabbed him; it was Bowser. "You're the new kid, right?" Bowser growled. "Today's your lucky day! You'll be the first one to find out what we do to freshmen around here."

"Aah! Let go of me!" Pika cried. Bowser just laughed, lifting Pika up to a point where his feet were almost completely off the ground. What Bowser failed to notice was the visible static charge building on Pika's arms and in his hair. "Stop it! Let me go! Stoooop!" Pika hit Bowser, and though it was a weak hit on its own, the electrical charge he had been building discharged throughout the large Koopa's body, causing him to flinch and drop Pika onto the ground.

"YEOWCH!" Bowser shouted, clutching the hand that had been holding onto Pika. "What was that for?! I was only tryin' to scare you a little!" He ran off in order to not miss his bus.

Pika slowly began to calm himself down. He turned to notice Ruka, who had apparently been watching the whole time. "I...I'm..."

"I was going to step in earlier, but I guess you didn't need my help after all," Ruka told him, a slight smile on his face.

"Please don't hate me..." Pika muttered, frightened.

"Why would I hate you?" Ruka asked. "That's a cool power you have. You just need to learn how to control it better." He held out his hand to help Pika up. "I could help you with that if you'd like."

"Ruka..."

"Come on, then. You're gonna miss your bus."

* * *

"So what's Olimar like as a teacher?" Kirby asked Ness, who was sitting beside him on the bus home.

"He's...kind of weird," Ness replied. "Like sometimes he would completely forget what he was talking about in the middle of class."

"Weird..."

* * *

"I'm hooome..." Link dropped his backpack onto the floor of his house, sighing from exhaustion. His little brother Tony, whose middle school dismissed an hour before Nintendo High, was already sitting on the couch, engrossed in a video game.

Tony glanced up from his videogame, noticing his older brother's arrival. "Mom called a little while ago," he told Link. "She said she had to work late again." He turned back to his video game, in which his character defeated a monster. "Yeah, kiss my ass, hell spawn!" he yelled at the game, a smug grin on his face.

"I hope you don't use that kind of language in front of Mom," Link reprimanded him, slightly taken aback by Tony's surprising use of profanity.

"You're one to talk," Tony replied, not looking away from his game. "I've heard you shouting when you're playing games with your friends. You cuss up a storm when you're on the losing side."

Link chuckled. "You got me there, little bro."

* * *

Mario and Luigi had just sat down to a home cooked meal with their mother Felicia and their father Ricardo. "So, how was school, boys?" Felicia asked as they all dug into the lasagna she had prepared.

"It was pretty good," Mario replied. "I'm probably gonna try out for the basketball team again."

"Yeah, me too," Luigi added.

"Weren't you two the best players last year?" Ricardo asked with a chuckle. "Why're they makin' you try out again?"

"It's a fairness thing, I think," Mario explained, pausing to take a bite of the lasagna. "They wanna give the incoming freshmen the same chance of getting picked as anyone that's been on the team in the years before."

"I just hope everyone's a good sport this year," Luigi added. "It may feel bad when the team loses, but having to listen to the one guy that yells at everyone and blames the other teammates for the loss just makes it worse." He paused to eat some more, then turned to their parents. "So, how was work?"

"There must be some weird issue with the water pressure downtown," Ricardo sighed. He worked for a plumbing business that was well known in the city. "Five exploding toilets in one day!"

"Exploding...toilets, Dad?" Mario tried his best to keep from laughing.

Ricardo chuckled, realizing how his previous statement sounded. "Well, they didn't _literally_ explode," he clarified. "A lot of the calls described them as exploding, though the couple that we were able to get to today were actually water pressure problems. The others may be the same, though they could also be prank calls."

"It was a pretty uneventful day at the office for me," Felicia said. She worked as a secretary in a local office firm. "The other ladies kept bringing up drama with Janine's husband, so I stayed out of that."

The family continued their conversation throughout the rest of dinner, and before anyone knew it, the night had passed on and it was time for everyone to go to bed. It was definitely an interesting first day of Mario and Luigi's last year at Nintendo High.

* * *

AN: I should mention some clarifications of character identities: Ruka is a human version of the Lucario that appears in Smash Bros., Masterson is a human version of Master Hand (prolly should've said that in ch1), Jones is a human version of Dimentio (full human name being David Jones, for...reasons that would take too long to explain), and Tony is Toon Link. For further details about characters that may be unclear just in the story text and other random tidbits of trivia and whatnot, feel free to check out the release of this story on my deviantART (username PuppyLuver) or the Nintendo High Tumblr blog (username asknintendohigh). Jess out!


	4. Cross-Dressing and Conspiracy

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 4: Cross-dressing and Conspiracy  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on July 13, 2012.)_

It seemed to the students and staff of Nintendo High that the first week of the new year had flown by. Before anyone knew it, it was already Friday. Talk of Homecoming Week was already beginning to circulate, with no small help from the posters that were being hung in the hallways.

"Homecoming Week already, huh?" Mario asked as he and Peach passed by one such poster. "Wow, it's like the first week just flew by."

Peach noticed the poster as well, and began to look at Mario with a devious look in her eye. "Mario..." she murmured. "You remember what I told you freshman year about homecoming week, right?"

"Not really," Mario sighed. "It's been three years since then, after all."

"Remember the pep rally at the end of homecoming week?" she asked with a slight giggle.

Mario groaned. "How could I forget? The friggin' cross-dressing...pa...geant..." It was then when Mario realized Peach's intentions. "No!" he shouted, causing some other students in the hall to stare at them. "No way! You are _not_ signing me up for that thing!"

"Too late!" Peach said cheerfully. "I already turned in the application for you."

"Wh-what?!" Mario couldn't believe it. "How'd you even get the necessary information?! Surely you'd need, like, my student ID or something!"

"No, they didn't ask for that," Peach replied. "They didn't ask for much, really. Just your name and homeroom, as well as the title of your musical accompaniment for the talent part of the show. That's all. Oh, and I picked out the _perfect_ song for you. Laters!" And with that, Peach left for her next class, leaving Mario to reel from what he had just been thrust into.

"I...I can't believe this..."

* * *

Bowser crept along the corner entering the hallway, something that most people would find hard for a Koopa that size to do. He was watching someone he found to be very suspicious; Giegue-ashi-Gyara, one of the most distanced and mysterious students of Nintendo High. "That guy..." Bowser muttered to himself. "There's something about him that I just don't like. He's hiding something big under the dressy outfit and the polite mannerisms...I just need the chance to find out..."

"So the Conspiracy Koopa's at it again, huh"

"AAAH!" Bowser jumped, then noticed the person who had startled him. "Ivo!" he shouted. "How long have you been standing there?!"

"Not for long," Ivo replied. "Now, what were you saying about Giegue?"

"Giegue? Who's Giegue?"

Ivo pointed at the person Bowser had been watching. "That's Giegue," he told the Koopa.

Bowser nodded. "So _that's_ his name..."

"Honestly, he's been here since freshman year and you've never even found out his _name?!_ " Ivo chuckled.

"We've never had classes together," Bowser said with a shrug, "and I don't exactly hang out with anyone who knows him closely."

"He's not exactly the social type," Ivo admitted. "Hell, I only know him because he's in the science club that I'm president of, and a club president should know its members." He sighed. "So, what's gotten you interested in Giegue?"

"I'unno," Bowser replied. "Something just doesn't smell right about that guy."

"Considering you only shower every few weeks, I'm surprised you can smell at all," Ivo said jokingly.

"Sh-shut up!" Bowser retorted. "I shower more often than that!" He turned his attention back down the hallway where Giegue had been, though he had now moved on. "I'm just saying that he's gotta be up to something. What if...what if he's an alien bent on conquering or destroying the planet?!"

Ivo sighed, knowing that something like this would come up eventually. "Of _course_ he's an alien," he told Bowser. "He's obviously not a being that developed on this planet. He's even listed as such in his school bio!"

"And how would _I_ know about his school bio?!" Bowser snapped. "Either way, that confirms one part of my theory..."

"You can- _not_ be serious!" Ivo half-shouted. "There are _plenty_ of students here that are of an extraterrestrial nature. And I'm _completely_ certain that none of them intend on our world's domination!"

"None of 'em have that weird..." Bowser struggled to find the right word. "... _presence_ that Giegue does. He's different, I can tell."

"You're just not going to let this go, are you..." Ivo sighed in defeat. "Fine. If I were to help prove that Giegue is not plotting anything, would you admit you were wrong?"

"Sure, I guess," Bowser replied. "I'll even do something for ya. Name it."

"Um...help me dispose of the combustible waste from my experiments."

"All right, then. And if I'm right, not only do you have to help me stop him, but you gotta keep my locker clean until graduation. Deal?"

"Deal." The two sealed their deal with a handshake. "Let's just hope this doesn't end up like the time you tried to prove that everyone born with blonde hair came from the moon..."

* * *

The first thing Mario did upon arriving home from school was to trudge up to his room and collapse onto his bed in a mild depression. "How could Peach do this to me?" he moaned into his pillow. "I love that girl, but she can do the craziest things..."

"Maaaario!" Luigi's voice called from downstairs. "Your issue of Food Network Magazine came in!" When Mario didn't respond, Luigi made his way to find his brother. "Mario?" he called. He finally found Mario face-down on his bed. "What's wrong, Mario?" he asked.

"Girls are crazy..." Mario moaned, his voice slightly muffled by his pillow.

Luigi was immediately concerned. "You're not having problems with Peach, are you?" he asked. He remembered how hard his brother had taken being dumped by his girlfriend from 6th grade, Pauline.

"No, not exactly..." Mario turned over and made an embarrassed grimace. "You know that cross-dressing pageant that happens during the homecoming week pep rally?"

Luigi realized what was going on. "Oh, she _didn't_ ," he chuckled.

Mario buried his face back into his pillow. "She _did_."

"Well, look on the bright side," Luigi said, sitting down on his brother's bed. "It's not like everyone will judge you for it. Everyone knows it's just for fun." This only elicited another groan from Mario. "...Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll sign up too. We can make fools of ourselves together."

Mario looked up. "Really?"

"Sure!" Luigi said with a grin. "After all, what are brothers for?"

* * *

Early the next day, Saturday, Bowser had arrived at the Robotnik residence. There weren't any cars in the driveway, but Bowser knew that Ivo never awoke before 9 on weekends. He lightly rapped on the front door. There was no response, so he knocked a little harder. It was at this second knocking that Ivo opened the door, half-asleep and still in his pajamas. "What're you doin' here?" he muttered drowsily. "It's not even 8..."

"If we're gonna find out what Giegue's up to, we need to start ASAP!" Bowser insisted.

"You serious?" Ivo groaned. He rubbed his eyes before yielding entry to his house. "Fine, come on in," he sighed. "Let me get better woken up and I'll see what I can do." Bowser entered the house and followed Ivo to another room, where a dual-monitor computer was set up, as well as a large television and several videogame consoles. "You're lucky my parents already left for work," Ivo told him. He sat down at the computer desk and took a sip of an open energy drink that was sitting there, presumably from the previous night. "I don't think they'd appreciate what I'm about to do."

"And that would be?" Bowser asked.

"Being a club president grants me access to certain information banks that most students never gain access to," Ivo replied. "However, that can only get me so far." He booted up the internet and made his way to the school's homepage, clicking on the link for faculty login. He stretched out his fingers in preparation. "Let's hope my hacking abilities haven't dulled over the summer."

"Wait, hacking?"

"Yep." Ivo typed in the username of Giegue's homeroom teacher, opened up a separate program and typed in a sequence that would hopefully generate the correct password. "I figured we could find out his address and start from there. This is the best way I know to find it while keeping people from getting suspicious, especially Giegue."

"Isn't that illegal?"

"So is stalking, which is a tactic _you_ proposed for this little mission, so you have no room to talk." A password was soon generated for the username, which Ivo entered into the login. It worked perfectly. "Aaaand I'm in." He looked through the list of students the teacher had for homeroom and found Giegue's complete school bio, which he had admittedly seen before in a partially censored state. He found Giegue's address and wrote it down on a nearby notepad. "All set. Now let me get dressed and we can head out."

"Well, hurry up, okay?" Bowser growled. "We can't afford to waste any time. The fate of the entire world is at stake!"

* * *

Peach, Daisy and Yoshi had come over to the Segali household so the friends could spend the day together. The first item on the day's unofficial list was a two-on-two basketball match between the teams of Mario and Yoshi vs. Luigi and Daisy, with Peach keeping score. Luigi and Daisy's team, Team Yellow, were currently in the lead with two points to Mario and Yoshi's one. "I'm open, Daisy!" Luigi shouted, waving his arms for Daisy to pass to him.

"Okay, Luigi, heads up!" She passed the ball to Luigi, who then shot it at the single basketball goalpost the brothers had and scored.

"That's 3-1 to Yellow!" Peach exclaimed.

"You better watch out, you two!" Mario teased the winning pair. "We're not gonna let you win so easy!" Mario got hold of the ball after Luigi's dunk and dribbled it, looking for an opening. "Yoshi!" he shouted, passing it towards the dinosaur.

"I got it!" Yoshi caught the ball...only, he didn't use his hands to catch it. He had instead extended his long, sticky tongue and caught the ball in his mouth.

"Okay, time out, guys," Mario sighed. "Yoshi, how many times do I have to tell you to keep my balls out of your mouth?"

Yoshi spit out the basketball with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry, dude," he said.

"Well, I think it's safe to say the game is over," Daisy muttered, staring at the saliva-covered ball. "I'm certainly not touching that ball now."

"In that case," Peach said, standing up and picking up her purse, "now's as good a time as any to go _shopping!_ " She gave Mario a big hug. "What say you, Mario?"

Mario knew exactly what she meant by "shopping"; shopping for him. "Oh my god, why."

"What's wrong with shopping?" Daisy asked, confused.

"It's a long story," Luigi told her. "The short version is that Peach signed Mario up for the cross-dressing pageant."

"Ohhhhh."

"Mind if I tag along?" Yoshi asked them. "I need to pick up some watermelons for Mom's work party this week."

"Wait, if it's your mom's work party, then why are you...?"

"I ate the ones that she already had."

"Of course you can come with!" Peach exclaimed. "We were all planning to spend the day together as a group anyway, right? I didn't clean out the back seat of my car just for fun, after all." She giggled after saying this.

"Actually, Peach," Luigi said with a slightly nervous laugh. "I've decided to sign up for the pageant too, so I guess I'd need help finding a good outfit as well."

"Seriously?" Daisy chuckled.

Luigi made an odd face at her. "Is it wrong for a guy to support his bro nowadays?"

"Well, should we go, then?" Peach asked expectantly.

Mario sighed. "Might as well get it over with..."

"All right, then, let's go!"

* * *

Bowser and Ivo were beginning their surveillance of Giegue, starting at his house. Bowser hid behind a bush on the other side of the street, while Ivo hid behind the next door neighbor's face. "Iron Koopa, this is the Eggman," Ivo spoke into his phone as if it were a walkie-talkie. "See anything on your end?"

"Negatory, Eggman," Bowser replied through his phone, watching the front door of Giegue's house through a pair of binoculars. "Bogey's not headin' out of his hidey-hole."

"What are you even saying?" Ivo looked over at Giegue's house and noticed the door handle turn. "Hold on, the door's opening. He's probably heading out now." Just as Ivo had suspected, the door soon opened and Giegue stepped out. He locked the door behind him and made his way down the street. "He's moving out! Repeat, Giegue's moving out!"

"I can see that!" Bowser half-shouted into his phone. "I'm not blind!"

"Shhh! Don't give away your position, you moron!" Ivo retorted. "Do you want someone to call the cops on us?! Now let's go, but be careful and casual." Bowser and Ivo moved out of their hiding spots and followed Giegue, being careful to not stand out. They followed him to the bus stop and boarded the same bus as he did, and departed along with him at the stop in front of the nearby Junes department store.

* * *

There were at least three Junes stores in Miyamotopolis, and this particular store happened to be the same store that Mario and his friends had gone to. "Now then," Peach explained to Mario, "you'll definitely look best in red. You wear it so often that is seems to compliment you best out of all colors." She held up various articles of clothing to quickly check their relative size to his body.

"Yeah, I guess..." Mario sighed.

"Mario...you're not _really_ upset about all this, are you?" Peach asked. "If you are, you can just go to the office on Monday and tell them you want to quit. I won't feel bad if you do, I promise."

"No, no, it's okay, really!" Mario insisted. "I don't want to cause any unnecessary hassle for the people in charge of that. Plus, I know you've been waiting for this for three years. I wouldn't want to take that away from you." He smiled at her warmly.

Peach giggled. "Oh, goodie!" She then turned her attention back to the clothing. "Hmm...maybe we should get you a pair of ladies' panties to make it feel more natural?"

"Oh, HELL no!" Mario shouted. "I'll wear a dress, but you are NOT taking my right to man-derwear!"

"Just kidding!"

Daisy was looking at the clothes as well, but she had much less enthusiasm than Peach did. She looked at the massive selection with boredom and indecision. "Eh...I'd like to help out, but you guys know I'm not really a clothes type of girl," she admitted. She glanced over at Luigi, who was checking out a green ladies' shirt. "Sorry, Luigi."

"Oh, it's fine," Luigi told her. "Peach has enough fashion sense to cover the both of us, anyway."

* * *

Ivo continued to watch Giegue from behind a rack of tree-shaped air fresheners as he perused the automotive supplies. "Iron Koopa, this is the Eggman," he spoke through his phone. "Target is in the automotive aisle. He's browsing through replacement windshield wiper blades. ...He just picked out two of unequal length."

" _What would he need wipers for?_ " Bowser asked.

"Maybe his parents need some new ones for their car and he decided to be nice and get some for him," Ivo replied. "Completely normal, and certainly _not_ suspect for world domination." Just then, Ivo heard something behind him. "Crap, someone's coming!" He put his phone away and turned away from Giegue, pretending to look at oil filters.

Waluigi, a student at Nintendo High and part-time worker for that Junes store, approached Ivo. "Hey, Robotnik," he greeted him with a slight apathetic tone. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, no thanks, Medici," Ivo replied, somewhat nervous. "I'm just, uh, looking at the oil filters for an experiment I have planned, though I haven't figured out which type I'll need yet."

"Well, take your time, I guess," Waluigi sighed. "I'm needed in electronics anyway." He sauntered off, leaving Ivo to continue his surveillance...

...or he would, but it seemed Giegue had disappeared. "What the...?" Ivo looked around for any trace of Giegue, but found nothing.

" _Eggman, this is Iron Koopa!_ " Bowser said through the phone. " _I've spotted the bogey in grocery!_ "

"What?!" Ivo was shocked at this. "That _can't_ be—he was just over here on the opposite side of the store!"

"Well he's here in the dairy aisle now." Bowser was watching Giegue from behind a case of milk products. "He's got those wipers that you mentioned, and now it looks like he's getting sour cream."

" _That's an odd combination,_ " Ivo responded. " _Wonder why he's getting wipers and sour cream?_ "

"How the heck should I know that?!" Bowser shouted. Unfortunately, this shout was what caused Giegue to turn and notice the Koopa. Bowser stood there for a moment like a deer caught in the headlights...then ran off, screaming half in terror. "Iron Koopa to Eggman!" Bowser frantically shouted into his phone. "I've been spotted! Bogey's on my tail! Fall back, I repeat, fall back!"

"What did you do?!" Ivo then felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to see that it was Giegue staring at him angrily. Ivo ran off, shouting a few nasty swear words. Ivo and Bowser met near the checkouts (nearly running into each other in the process) and bolted for the door, though were soon knocked back by an invisible wall.

"Owww..." Bowser muttered. "What the hell was that..." He then looked up to see Giegue, who caused the barrier to dissipate. "Crap...!"

"So, would you two care to explain why you've been following me all day?" Giegue asked them.

"Y-you knew?"

"You're not exactly the most stealthy people in the world."

"Hehe, well, I can explain," Ivo said. "My friend Bowser here, he has an odd tendency to come up with crazy theories that have little to no basis in actual logic. He thought you were sent to Earth to conquer or destroy it. Think you could talk some sense into him? Please?"

Giegue sighed in relief. "If that's all it was, you could've just asked me," he told them. "It's true that I was sent to this planet for a particular mission, but my purpose here is to _study_ the people of this planet, not to rule them. Scholars from my planet are interested in how so many different intelligent species can coexist on one planet in relative peace. My life is dedicated to this subject of study."

"See, Bowser?" Ivo jeered. "He's not an _invader_ , he's an archaeologist!"

"But...what about the weird shopping list?" Bowser asked.

"I merely needed both items and felt it would be more efficient to get them at the same time."

"Well, then explain how you got all the way across opposite sides of the store in two seconds!"

"I possess a wide range of PSI abilities as a hallmark of my species," Giegue explained, demonstrating by recreating a smaller version of the barrier that Bowser and Ivo had run head first into. "This includes teleportation. I don't really use it until I feel it's necessary, to conserve my energy."

"Happy now, Bowser?" Ivo asked sarcastically. "Everything has a simple and _benign_ explaination."

"I guess," Bowser grumbled. He then turned to Giegue. "I still think you're up to something."

"Perfectly understandable," Giegue admitted. "It's only natural to be suspicious of the unknown, especially in this day and age."

Ivo chuckled. "Well, I guess we'll be going now," he said, gently trying to push Bowser out the door. He whispered to the Koopa, "You can make good on your promise tomorrow."

As the two left, Giegue made his way to a more private area of the store. He placed a small device onto the handle-like growth under his ear.

 _This is Giegue-ashi-Gyara. I fear I may have been discovered. I have taken measures to avert suspicion for now, but we may need to speed up the mission. I shall report in person soon._

* * *

AN: To the person who reviewed the last chapter asking about Pliskin who either wasn't logged in or doesn't have an account and thus I can't respond directly, yes, Pliskin is indeed Snake. Also, to everyone reading this chapter, I know Giegue's name is just Giegue (or Giygas, if you only go by EarthBound), but I added extras to his name as kind of a way to build a little bit of culture around whatever species he is. I haven't figured out all the details yet, though.


	5. One Week

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 5: One Week  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on July 30, 2012.)_ _ **  
**_

Homecoming Week, the one week of Nintendo High's early school year where all sense was thrown out the window. Homecoming Week was also known as Spirit Week, with each day having a theme to which the students and faculty could dress in crazy outfits that they would normally never wear. This harmless craziness culminated in the pep rally at the end of school on that Friday and the homecoming dance shortly afterward. Link and Skull Kid, while not dressing for Monday's theme, had an eventful week ahead of them. "So, you gonna ask a girl to the homecoming dance?" Skull Kid asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Link replied. "I was actually thinking of trying to ask Zelda."

"Oooh, Linky likes a challenge!" Skull Kid chuckled, patting Link on the back. "I'm proud of ya, dude!"

"The main problem is how to get a hold of her to even ask," Link said, somewhat worried. "I mean, I don't share any classes with her, we don't even have the same lunch time. Neither of us rides the bus, and I can't catch her after school because she's always busy with extracurricular stuff..." He sighed. "And even if I _did_ get to ask her, she'd have to ask her dad first, and he's supposedly super-strict and super-busy so he'll probably say no..."

"Well, what about Midna?" Skull Kid suggested.

Link gave Skull Kid an odd look. "I don't just want to give up on Zelda, though..."

Skull Kid shook his head. "No, no, no!" he exclaimed. "I meant why not get Midna to help you two hook up?" He smiled. "She's like Zelda's best friend, after all. And they're both seniors, so they're bound to share at least _one_ class."

"Actually...that's a really smart idea!" Link exclaimed. "Thanks, Rig...er, I mean, Skull Kid!" He had almost forgotten about his best friend's insistence on using the new nickname.

"Eh, don't mention it."

* * *

 _ **Day 1 of Spirit Week: Relive the '80s!**_

Worlds History class happened to be the perfect opportunity to talk to Midna; after all, Link sat right next to her. The two had even arrived at class a little bit early. "Hey...Midna?" Link asked. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure thing, Link," Midna replied, stretching out her arms with a slight yawn and running her fingers through her orange ponytail. "What do you want?"

"Well, it's about the homecoming dance on Friday—"

Upon hearing this, Midna became incredibly flustered, unusual for her as she was often cool, collected, and _very_ sarcastic. "Y-yeah, uh, I-I'd love to, Link, r-really," she stammered nervously, "b-but I have...I have stuff to attend to at home. Yeah, very important stuff. Don't get me wrong, you're a cool guy and I'd like to hang out with you, but I only like you, I don't _like_ you, and plus, you don't really want people to think we're a 'thing', I mean, what would your mom say about you dating a Twili? Oh god, now I just implied your mom's racist, what am I even _saying?!_ "

"What...?" Link was entirely confused by this. "I...I wasn't trying to ask _you_ out, though I appreciate that you'd like to hang out with me...I was gonna ask if you could get in touch with Zelda for me. I wanna try asking her, but I'd never get the chance without help."

"Oh, is that it?" Midna breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think that'll be a problem at all. I'll talk to her in my next class, how does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Midna," Link replied with a smile. "Thanks a ton."

At that moment, the history teacher Shad Covington entered the classroom. The students began to chuckle because, in his exaggerated attempt at '80s attire, Shad honestly looked completely ridiculous. "Yes, I know I look strange," Shad said with a sigh. "All the teachers are required to participate in Spirit Week, and as I was still a baby during the '80s, I never dressed in the style of the times. Now, let's try to keep focus on the lesson at hand, shall we?" He turned to the chalkboard and began to write some notes. "Continuing from Friday's class covering Hylian mythology, it was believed that three golden goddesses descended from the heavens..."

Link wasn't paying much attention to the lesson. Instead, he was concentrating on his notebook, in which he was doodling a picture of himself and Zelda holding hands and enjoying one another's time.

"...departed, leaving behind three sacred triangles. These three triangles became known as the Triforce!" Shad turned around from the chalkboard, where along with the notes, he had drawn a triangle within a larger triangle, splitting the larger triangle into three smaller ones. He then noticed Link and his apparent lack of attention to the assignment. "Have you even been paying attention to the lesson, Mr. Mancini?"

Link looked up, startled by having suddenly been called on. "Uh, of course I was!" he exclaimed.

"Then tell me, what were the names of the golden goddesses believed to have created Hyrule?" Shad asked him.

Link struggled to recall the answer. "They were, um...Din...Farore, and...um, the wisdom one..."

"Nayru," Midna whispered to him.

"Oh yeah, Nayru!"

"Very good," Shad said. He then picked up a small stack of papers. "Now, I'd like you each to take one of these handouts so you can follow along with the short video we're about to watch and answer the questions..."

"Thanks, Midna," Link said gratefully.

"No prob."

* * *

 _ **Day 2 of Spirit Week: A Tribute to Walt Disney!**_

Toadsworth's English class was known as one of the best cures for insomnia that Nintendo High could provide. Mario was beginning to drift off to sleep, but his nap was stopped by Waluigi nudging him lightly. "So is it true that you entered the cross-dressing pageant?" he asked. Mario didn't reply, he just groaned. "...I take that as a 'yes'?"

"Yeah..." Mario groaned.

"Huh..." Waluigi turned away from Mario, but soon turned back. "Did you lose a bet, too?"

"Wha...?"

"It's just that Wario's signed up for it, too," Waluigi explained, "and the only reason he's doing it because he lost a bet."

"WARIO?!" Mario shouted. Unfortunately, his shout startled the other students and caused Toadsworth, hard as it may have been to take him seriously because of his Donald Duck costume, to notice him.

"Mr. Segali!" Toadsworth reprimanded him. "Mr. de Luca isn't in this class, and even if he were, shouting for him is an inappropriate way to get his attention! Now please, be quiet, pay attention to the lesson, and don't disturb your fellow students!"

"Sorry..." Mario sighed. "Can't believe I'm getting talked down to by an old Toad wearing a goofy sailor outfit..."

* * *

 _ **Day 3 of Spirit Week: Let's Have Halloween in August!**_

Link was finally going to get the chance to talk to Zelda today. Midna had figured out a time during lunch that the two could meet, and Link was ecstatic. He had come to school dressed for the day's Spirit Week theme, wearing a black suit with white accents along with a few stylized skull accessories. "Aww, Link, you're so cute!" Midna giggled. "You didn't seriously think you had to dress up just to see Zelda, did you?"

"It's my Halloween costume, actually," Link replied. "It's a character from an anime I like, but I still haven't ordered the wig yet."

"Well, Zelda'll be here soon, ya goof," Midna chuckled.

Soon enough, Zelda had entered the cafeteria and approached Link and Midna. "Hello, Link," she greeted him. "You're looking quite nice today." She noticed the stylized skull accessories that he was wearing. "Let me guess, this is for Spirit Week?"

"Y-yeah!" Link exclaimed, blushing. "Wow, you noticed...so, are you familiar with...?"

"Sorry, but no," Zelda replied. "I just know you're not the type of guy who regularly wears skulls."

"Hehe, right..."

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Zelda asked.

"Um..." Link was at a loss for words. It was as if he had completely forgotten why they were meeting in the first place.

"Pardon?"

"Well, I...I...I was...won...wondering..." Link took a deep breath, and spoke his request incredibly fast. " _Iwannaknowifyoudliketogotothehomecomingdancewithme!_ "

Midna sighed. "Smooth, Casanova," she said. "Real smooth."

"I'm...sorry?" Zelda said, confused. "I didn't quite catch that..."

"S-sorry," Link said. "I was just wondering if you'd like to go to the homecoming dance...with me..."

"Oh..." Zelda blushed slightly. "Well, I'd like to, but I'll have to check with my father in case he has anything planned for Friday. I'm sure that I'll be free this week, though. I'll text you tomorrow with my answer."

"Okay," Link replied, but then he remembered something important. "B-but I don't have your phone number!"

"Well then, let's rectify that." Zelda and Link exchanged phone numbers. After that, Zelda headed back to her class.

"So...I'm curious," Midna said to Link after Zelda's departure. "Where exactly does your costume come from?"

"Soul Eater," Link replied.

"Is it on Netflix?"

"Totally."

"I'll have to check it out, then," Midna said. "It may even be something _he'll_ enjoy, too..."

"Wait, what was that last part?" Link asked.

"N-nothing!" And with that, Midna ran off to her next class.

Link sighed. "Midna...you're cool and all, but you can be so _weird_ sometimes..."

* * *

 _ **Day 4 of Spirit Week: Pose as Your Favorite Celebrity!**_

It was nearly the end of the day, and everyone was still trying to guess who Principal Masterson had dressed as for the celebrity lookalike day. Officer Pliskin had it figured out, though. "You've _got_ to be kidding..." he muttered in annoyance.

"What?" Masterson asked defensively, adjusting his bowtie and placing a screwdriver-like object into the pocket of his coat. "This is his most iconic role! No one would know who I was dressed as otherwise."

"I don't think anyone's figured it out but me," Pliskin sighed. "You're probably the only one here who watches the BBC..." He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. "I only know the guy because you've got a picture of all of 'em in your office, ya damn fanboy."

"You've got some nerve lighting up in front of me!" Masterson shouted. He tried to wrest the cigarette from Pliskin, at which point Mario and Peach happened to pass by.

"It's seeing things like this that honestly makes me question whether or not I'll miss this place in a year..." Mario muttered.

"Yeah," Peach sighed. "So anyway, apparently everyone in the pageant has to meet backstage in the auditorium tomorrow morning along with their assistants, right?"

"Yeah, that's what they told us," Mario replied. "I still can't believe that I'm going through with this, or that Luigi joined in as well..."

"You guys are talking about the cross-dressing pageant, right?" someone asked them. It was Link, who just happened to pass by. "Hey, you two!"

"Yeah, we were," Mario chuckled. "Too bad you're a junior, I bet you'd get a kick out of seeing me in a dress."

"Speaking of Friday, I hear you've asked Zelda to the homecoming dance!" Peach squealed in delight. "You two would look _so_ cute together!"

"Nice to know I have the Peach seal of approval," Link said with a nervous laugh.

"Wait a minute, isn't Zelda always really busy with stuff?" Mario asked.

"Yeah, I know," Peach said. "I'm one of her best friends and even I rarely get to spend much time with her outside of school."

At that moment, Link's phone went off. He checked it and found that he had a text from Zelda. _I have the answer to your request,_ the text stated. _Please meet me in front of the school within five minutes if you can. —Zelda_

"Huh, wonder why she didn't text me sooner," Link murmured to himself. "She must be the type to leave her phone off during class." He put his phone away and turned back to Mario and Peach. "Well, I guess I should get going. See you guys!"

"Good luck!" Peach said as he left.

Link made his way to the front of the school where Zelda waited. "Oh, good afternoon, Link," Zelda said. "I see you got my text."

"Yeah," Link said. "So...can you...?"

The look on Zelda's face didn't make it seem like she would be saying yes. "I...I'm sorry, Link," she said sadly. "My aunt is getting married this weekend, and my father wants us to leave after school tomorrow so we can have time to help her get ready. I would've liked to go to the dance with you, but I'm afraid family has to come first."

"Of...of course..." Link dejectedly muttered. "I understand..."

"I would like to hang out with you sometime to make up for it, though," Zelda added, possibly to cheer Link up. "I'll let you know whenever I'm available, all right?"

"Sure thing," Link said. "Um...see you later, I guess..." He walked off, his head hung low in shame and regret.

"Link, I... see you..."

* * *

 _ **Day 5 of Spirit Week: Don Your School's Colors! Make Us Proud!**_

The final day of Spirit Week was the big event, especially for the seniors, as they were treated to a free breakfast that morning. The breakfast would be followed by a presentation in the auditorium about class rings and graduation preparation (such as getting one's cap and gown ordered), and finishing off with the preliminary round of the "Miss" Nintendo High pageant. Peach was putting the finishing touches on Mario and Luigi's appearance. "It's almost time," she giggled. "You guys ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be..." Mario sighed. He adjusted his skirt to be more comfortable (relatively speaking) and brushed the tail end of the ribbon in his hair out of his face.

"Trust me, bro," Luigi said as he pulled up his striped socks, "one day we'll look back at this and laugh."

"I seriously doubt that."

Onstage, Principal Masterson could be heard announcing the start of the pageant. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for, this year's 'Miss' Nintendo High pageant!" he exclaimed. "Three lucky 'ladies' will not only earn the undying respect of their peers, but also a $15, $25, or $30 gift card to Applebee's!"

"Wait, there's a prize?" Mario asked. "No one told me! Maybe this won't be so bad after all..."

"And now for our first contestant, 'Miss' Louisa Fulmine!"

Luigi stepped out onto the stage, his face slightly red in a touch of stage fright. "H-hello, everyone!" he greeted the audience in a slight falsetto voice. There was some light giggling by some more immature spectators, but for the most part, the audience was encouraging.

In all fairness, the pageant was less of a pageant and more of a talent show in drag. The "ladies" performed their talents, which ranged from singing and dancing to archery and even a comedy sketch. Soon enough, the contestants were done performing and the final three had been decided. "Now then, it's time to announce the three who will be competing for first!" Masterson exclaimed. "And these three lucky 'ladies' are as follows; Louisa Fulmine, better known as Luigi Segali!" Luigi went back onstage to applause and cheering. "Next is Lulu Caprica, better known as Ruka Auron!" Ruka stepped out to the same applause and cheers. "And last, but not least, Angel Grace-Kelley, better known as Pit Icarus!" When Pit stepped onstage, the applause and cheering was noticeably stronger than that which Luigi and Ruka had received. It was difficult to tell that he was even a guy at all.

Watching from backstage, Mario breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I may not have won anything, but at least I can wear pants again." He took the ribbon out of his hair and let it fall to the ground.

"I can't believe I did all that work for nothing!" Wario shouted. Unlike many other contestants, who either made the drag look good or just okay, Wario looked completely _un_ attractive in his girly outfit. Perhaps it was the fact that he refused to shave his mustache. "Why wasn't I picked for the final three?! WHY?!"

"Because you nearly made everyone lose their breakfast..." Mario muttered to himself.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Nothing," Mario sighed. "Nothing at all."

Later that day, the pep rally began outside on the football field. The students (well, most of them, anyway) and the faculty cheered as the football players, basketball players (with Luigi wearing his jersey over his pageant outfit), and cheerleaders made their way onto the field. Pit was announced as the pageant winner (no surprise, considering his seemed the most natural), with Luigi taking second place. All things considered, it was a good end to one crazy week.


	6. Kirby Sakurai and the Ticket Dilemma

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 6: Kirby Sakurai and the Ticket Dilemma  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on October 5, 2012.)_ _ **  
**_

"OH MY GOD! Are you serious?!"

Kirby was surprised that Saturday afternoon with a delightful piece of news from Ness. " _Yeah, four tickets to the midnight release of the last Perry Kotter movie next Friday,_ " he said from the other end of the phone proudly. " _I was lucky to even get these so close to the release, especially at the price they were going at!_ "

"That's so awesome!" Kirby exclaimed. "Sooo...who you gonna give those other tickets to?"

" _Well, I_ _obviously called to invite you,_ " Ness replied. " _I'm also gonna invite Mal, but I don't know about the fourth person._ "

Kirby thought for a bit. "Why not Paula?" he asked. "I'm sure she'd like to see it."

" _I dunno,_ " Ness replied, seemingly uneasy. " _I've tried to invite her already, and she said she already had plans, but this always seems to happen lately when I invite her to things._ "

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Kirby reassured him. "I'll try asking her on Monday, all right?"

" _Okay,_ " Ness replied. " _But if she says no, don't pester her about it, okay?_ "

"All right. See ya Monday!"

* * *

 _Monday, 12:14 PM._

Luckily, Kirby had a few classes with Paula this year, so he had plenty of opportunity to ask her. He made his way to her desk, where she was reading a book with a black Labrador on the front cover. "Heeey, Paula," Kirby greeted her.

Paula looked up, noticing Kirby. "Oh, hi, Kirby," she said, putting her book down.

"That looks like an interesting book," Kirby said, in an attempt to more naturally steer the conversation towards the midnight release. "What's it about?"

"It's about a family with a mentally disabled son who take in a shelter dog for the Christmas season," she replied. "I started it last December, but I lost the darn thing and only recently found it."

"Sounds like an interesting read," Kirby said. "Myself, I'm more of a fantasy or science fiction kind of reader."

"Yeah, I usually prefer fantasy too."

"You know what I _really_ like?" Kirby asked. "The Perry Kotter books. R.J. Lanning is an absolutely _brilliant_ writer."

"I know, right?" Paula exclaimed. "She just weaves the world of those books so intricately!"

"I completely agree!" Kirby felt that this was the most appropriate time to ask. "In fact, I'm going to the midnight release of the movie of the last book. If you're not too busy this Friday, you wanna come with?"

Paula's expression fell slightly. "Aw, I wish I could, but I already have plans for Friday night," she sighed.

"Oh..." In all honesty, Kirby had been under the impression that Paula had just been brushing Ness off because she was jealous of his relationship with Mallory. If she gave him the same response, that must've meant she really _was_ busy. "That's...that's too bad."

"Please don't be too upset," Paula added. "We can always hang out some other time, can't we?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Kirby replied. He went back to his desk, a bit disheartened by Paula's response. After class had ended, he happened to pass by Ness in the hallway.

"So, how'd it go?" Ness asked, though he could predict what Kirby's response would be just by looking at his face.

"She said she was busy," Kirby sighed.

"Well, if she really _is_ busy, don't keep bothering about it, okay?" Ness reminded him. "Just find someone else we can take."

"All right," Kirby said. "I'm sure I'll find someone who can come with."

* * *

 _Monday, 2:52 PM._

Manuel Knight was Kirby's first alternative choice. Their parents were friends with one another, and Kirby knew that Manuel spent more time studying than hanging out. Still, it was worth a shot to ask.

"Sorry, Kirby," Manuel told him after being asked, "but I've never been that interested in the Perry Kotter series. Also, I usually try to go to bed by 11:30, so a midnight release would be out of the question for me."

"Understandable, I guess," Kirby said. "Well, have a good day, then."

* * *

 _Tuesday, 9:27 AM._

"Oh, I'm actually _really_ busy Friday night," Diddy Kong told him. "Wish I could join you, really, I do."

"All right," Kirby replied. "Is it something fun?"

"Yeah, totally." Diddy sat down at his desk, only to be greeted with a loud rumbling noise from his chair. "What the—?!" Diddy stood back up, finding a whoopee cushion where he had placed his posterior. "Who did this...?"

It was then that Skull Kid approached the two, laughing like a hyena. "Score one for the Skull Kid!" he exclaimed in victory.

"A little passé for your style, Rigby, but unexpected," Diddy commented. "Good one, dude. I'll get you back for it later, of course."

"Hey, Skull Kid," Kirby interjected, "since you're here, wanna come to the midnight release of Perry Kotter with me, Ness, and Mal?"

"You mean the one this Friday?" Skull Kid asked with a slight grimace. "Sorry, I kinda already promised my MMO buddies we'd go on a raid together this Friday. It's the first time I've gotten a chance to play in a while, and I'm willing to bet my alchemist character's gathering metaphorical dust."

"Well, that's kinda rude..."

"I know, I know, but I promised these guys," Skull Kid sighed apologetically. "This is probably the only social interaction they get. Hold on a sec." He took a piece of paper out of his notebook, wrote a message on it, then folded it up and handed it to Kirby. The paper read: " _I.O.U. from Skull Kid – good for movie tix + noms_ " "Any time something good's in theaters, just remind me of that and I'll pay for everything," Skull Kid insisted.

"Okay, I guess..." Kirby replied. It was better than nothing, at the very least.

* * *

 _Tuesday, 1:13 PM._

"Me and Peach are actually going out that night," Mario told Kirby. "We've been planning this for a couple weeks, even."

"I'm _technically_ free on Friday," Luigi said, "but this Saturday I was gonna get up early to film something for Jones's English class, so I don't think I should even stay up past 10."

"Okay..."

* * *

 _Wednesday, 11:26 AM._

"I haven't seen the first ones yet," Jillian sighed, fiddling with the cat-eared headband she wore, "and my parents won't even let me read the books, much less see the movies."

"How come?" Kirby asked.

"They think that just because the main characters use magic that it's a work of Satan." Jillian replied, glancing away in irritation. "I told them that's a lot of misinformed garbage, but they never listen to me."

"Oh. Sorry I asked, then..."

* * *

 _Wednesday, 3:03 PM._

"Why are you asking _me?_ " Dedede questioned Kirby, a clear annoyance in his voice.

"Why not?" Kirby replied with a smile.

"I don't know, maybe because you annoy me?"

"...Oh."

* * *

 _Thursday, 2:25 PM._

"Maaaaan..." Kirby moaned to himself. "I need to find someone quick. I'd feel horrible if that extra ticket went to waste, but everyone I ask either doesn't want to go, isn't allowed to go, or already has plans..." He sighed. "If only someone was free..."

"E-excuse me!" someone behind Kirby exclaimed. Kirby turned around to see Pika. "You're Kirby, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Kirby replied. "And you're...Pika, is that it?"

"Uh-huh," Pika said. "It's been going around the school that you have an extra ticket to a midnight release of Perry Kotter...you wouldn't happen to still have it, would you?"

"Well, it's technically a friend's ticket, not mine," Kirby clarified, perking up at the mention of the ticket, "but he did ask me to find an extra person to invite."

"I just asked because...well, do you think maybe I could go with you guys?" Pika asked. "I mean, I'd hate to impose, and I know we're not that well acquainted with one another, but I don't really have anything going on tomorrow night and I'd like to try and make more friends here…"

"Of course you can come!" Kirby practically shouted, ecstatic that he had finally found a fourth person. "Everyone else I've asked already has plans, you don't know how grateful I am that someone's finally free to go! This is gonna be awesome!"

* * *

 _Friday, 11:27 PM._

Kirby, Pika, Ness, and Mallory made their way down the sidewalk towards the closest movie theater, their tickets in hand. They had been chatting and cutting up the whole way, all the while getting to know Pika a little better and vice versa. "So you're from Hawaii, Pika?" Mal asked, intrigued. "What was it like there?"

"Well, the place itself is pretty cool, I guess," Pika replied. "I mean, it's one of the rainiest places in the country, and the stream of tourists make it really crowded at certain points of the year...but the flowers and trees and wildlife there are really beautiful, and the people who actually live there yearlong are great." He briefly glanced away at this. "Well...most of them, anyway."

"I gotta say, it's been really nice getting to know you," Ness said. The group then turned the corner and found the theater they were looking for. There was already a large group of people standing outside, all of which seemed very anxious to be let in.

"Wow, this place is _crazy_ crowded!" Kirby exclaimed.

"I feel kind of underdressed," Mal said after noticing that a large number of the moviegoers were in costume for the event.

As the group of four approached the theater, Kirby noticed one girl in particular waving at them. She was in costume like many of the others, but she stood out because she had a familiar face. "Hey, guys!" Paula called out to them.

"P-Paula?!" Kirby shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy tonight!"

"Well, guess the cat's out of the bag now," Paula replied with a slight giggle. "I couldn't go to the midnight release with you because I was already going with my mom." She motioned to the older woman dressed in dark pink standing beside her. "And the reason I've been so busy lately is because I've been working on my costume."

Suddenly, another familiar voice rang out amongst the crowd. "Hahaha, no way! We came to the same theater, seriously?!" Diddy Kong laughed.

Mario and Peach also drew near to the foursome, bemused smiles on their faces. "Well, this is certainly a pleasant surprise," Mario said.

"Seems like we all ended up having the same plans tonight!" Peach giggled.

"You guuuyyyys...!" Kirby couldn't believe his good fortune. Even Dedede had ended up coming to the midnight release, though of course he made no effort to draw Kirby's attention.

"So almost everyone you tried to ask ended up coming on their own anyway, huh..." Ness chuckled.

Mal smiled. "The world works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?"

"Well, this is great!" Pika said happily. "Now you can hang out with all your friends like you wanted!"

"This is...this is just the best movie night ever!"

Soon enough, the clock struck twelve and the ushers began to let people into the theater. People bumped into each other in the lines for concessions and to get to the best seats (as well as to the bathroom), but the minor inconvenience of there being so many people did nothing to damper the good mood brought on by friends, film, food, and a stroke of fortune.


	7. My Psycho Kid Brother

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 7: My Psycho Kid Brother  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on December 11, 2012.)_ _ **  
**_

In a large city like Miyamotopolis, there are multiple opportunities for the youth's education; Nintendo High is just one of many schooling options available. Some parents may even choose to send their children to one of the handful of private schools, which was once the case for the subject of our next story.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nocturna," the school's guidance counselor told a Twili gentleman. "We just can't afford to keep your son enrolled in our school. He's a danger to himself and the other students."

Nocturna was visibly upset. "Please, just give him another chance, I'm sure he'll—"

The counselor cut him off. "Mr. Nocturna, you seem to forget that we've given him multiple chances already," she said. "If it were only the uniform infractions and the talking in class, we would be much more forgiving. But he's had too many serious incidents to be given another chance this time." She pulled out a piece of paper with incident write-ups. "He has attacked other students unprovoked, falsely claiming it was self-defense. He's walked out of class with no logical reason. The latest and most serious incident was last week, when he nearly burned down the chemistry lab."

"I…see." Nocturna was at a loss for words.

"In any case, I hate to say it, but it's almost impossible to keep him enrolled here any longer," the counselor continued. "I want him to stay as much as you do, but I'm not the one who makes this decision. I'm sorry."

"I just wish there was something I could do for him..." Nocturna sighed.

"The only thing I can recommend is public school," the counselor suggested. "I'd say Nintendo High would be the best choice. I went there when I was his age, and I plan to send my daughter there when she's older." She smiled, and the two stood up and shook hands as Nocturna prepared to leave. "I wish you and your son good luck for the future,"

"Take care," Nocturna replied. He left the counselor's office and approached a teenage Twili boy sitting just outside. "Let's get going, Zant."

"Okay..."

The two Twili left the school with an awkward silence hanging over them. In the car ride leaving the school, Zant had the window rolled down and let his abnormally long arms hang out the side. "You know, you're not going to be allowed at that school anymore," Nocturna told Zant.

"I know," Zant said emotionlessly.

"That's the third school you've been expelled from," Nocturna added. When Zant didn't respond, Notcurna continued, "I think we'll try the public school your sister goes to," he said. "I know we took you out of the public school system because of your mental conditions, but at this point there's really no other choice."

"Is Mom okay with this?" Zant asked.

Nocturna hesitated with his answer, then cautiously replied, "I'm...sure she'll be fine with it. Your education is important, after all. Well, we'll get that settled on Monday."

* * *

That following Monday, everyone was filing into the parking lot, either by bus or by car. Nocturna had dropped Midna and Zant off near the front door, but as he drove off, Midna pulled Zant aside to talk to him privately, making sure no one was watching them. "All right, little brother, listen and listen good" Midna said in a hushed tone. "No one knows that I have any siblings, and as much as it pains me to say this to your face, I'd rather that no one found out that you're related to me."

"But why—" Zant began to ask, but Midna cut him off.

"Just promise me that you'll keep our relationship secret, promise?" Midna asked.

"What's wrong with—"

" _Promise!_ " Midna insisted.

"Aahhhhh...okay, I guess," Zant replied.

"Good."

With that, the two parted ways as they entered the school. Zant had a set of forms that he needed to take to the main office, so he headed there...only problem was that he had no idea how to get there, and the only person he knew could help him didn't want to be seen near him. "Ah, geez..." Zant muttered to himself. "Where the heck is that place?" At that moment, Zant bumped into someone. He looked up to see Ganondorf turning to face him. "Oh, 'scuse me."

"It's quite all right," Ganondorf said. "You look a little lost. Are you new here?"

"Yeah," Zant replied. "I'm supposed to find the office or something..."

"It's down that hall," Ganondorf said, pointing down the hall leading to Y-Block.

"Ah, thank you!" Zant exclaimed. He made his way down the hall Ganondorf had pointed toward, but was soon tackled from the side by Bowser and shoved into a nearby open locker.

"Haha, nice one!" Ganondorf exclaimed. He high-fived Bowser with a chuckle.

"The look on his face was _priceless!_ " Bowser laughed. Just then, the first bell rang to warn stragglers to hurry up. Bowser and Ganondorf hurriedly made their way to class, both to avoid being late and being caught at the scene of the crime. Inside the locker, Zant began to panic, banging on the locker door as loud as he could and shouting for anyone outside to help him.

Meanwhile, Paula and Kirby were running to reach their class on time. They were both clutching their recently purchased breakfast in wadded napkins. "If I'm late to class because of you, I swear you're gonna get it!" Paula shouted as they ran.

"How was I to know the breakfast line would take so long?!" Kirby retorted.

"Just hurry or you'll owe me lunch for a _week!_ " Paula said. They ran past the same set of lockers that Zant had been stuffed into. As they passed, Paula could hear the banging and shouting from within and backtracked to it. "What the... Is someone _in_ there?"

"Please help me!" Zant shouted. "Get me outta here!"

"Don't worry, we'll get you out soon!" Paula turned to Kirby. "Kirby, come over here!" she shouted at Kirby's retreating back. "There's someone trapped in a locker!"

"Seriously?!" Kirby returned to the lockers, a sort of mixed anger and annoyance in his expression. "Why people do stuff like that to others, I'll never know..." He took hold of the locker door and said, at a volume that could be heard through the metal door, "Stand back, whoever you are, I can get this open. You'll be outta here in no time." Kirby pressed his "ear" against the part of the locker where the combination dial had been installed. He turned the dial back and forth, listening to the clicking that would signify the door being unlocked. He soon undid the lock and Zant came toppling out, dropping all the forms he had been given.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that!" Zant said nervously, rolling off of Kirby and helping him to stand.

"Are you okay?" Paula asked the Twili.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for the help," Zant replied. "Oh, uh, which way's the main office?"

"It's just around the corner," Paula said, pointing it out. "Want me to walk with you?"

"I think I'll be fine," Zant said, having picked up the last of his forms. "Uh... see ya!" With that, he ran off in the direction that Paula has pointed.

"Wow..." Kirby muttered. "What a weirdo..."

* * *

Later on, after having taken care of all the paperwork, Zant had arrived at his first class of the day. "All right, class, this is a new student joining us, Zant Nocturna." Mr. Jones addressed the other students. "Please try to make him feel welcome. I don't know what point his last school got to in this subject, so if he needs help catching up, help him out." Mr. Jones then began to look over the classroom. "Now let's see, where can you sit...?"

It just so happened that Paula was also in this class. "Mr. Jones!" she exclaimed, raising her hand. "There's an empty seat over here!"

"Ah, perfect. Take the seat next to Miss Polestar, then."

"Okay," Zant said, making his way to the empty seat.

"Hey, you okay from this morning?" Paula asked softly.

Zant gave her an odd look. "Eh...who are you, again?"

"My friend and I helped you out of that locker, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Zant let out a light chuckle. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"Not a problem," Paula said with a smile.

The class went on as usual. Soon enough, it was time for the students to head to their next class. As Zant headed to his next class, something very out-of-place caught the corner of his eye. "M...Mom...?" he muttered. Zant ran down the hallway in pursuit of the oddity.

Meanwhile, Midna and Zelda were both making their way down a nearby hallway, chatting with one another. "I can't believe she did that!" Midna said, appalled by whatever Zelda had said.

"I _know_ , right?" Zelda said with a scoff. "I mean, she _knew_ I hadn't seen that movie yet, so why would she tell me the ending other than to tick me off?"

Suddenly, Zant rounded the corner, barreling right into Midna and causing them both to fall to the floor. "Owwww..." Zant sat up, rubbing his head in pain, then finally noticed Midna. "Oh my god, Sis!" he exclaimed. "Sis, are you okay?! I'm so sorry, I thought I saw Mom and—"

"Get off me!" Midna shouted, trying to push Zant off her stomach.

"Wait, 'sis'?" Zelda asked, confused. "Midna, I thought you were an only child."

"Eh..."

Zant finally realized his mistake. "...Oopsie."

Midna sighed. Her secret, it seemed, wouldn't stay secret any longer. "I guess someone would find out eventually," she said. "Zelda, this is my psycho kid brother, Zant."

Zant's eyes lit up. "Y-you mean you're not embarrassed to be related to me anymore?!" he asked excitedly.

"I guess," Midna said. Zant's response was nothing more than a tight hug around Midna's waist. "Okay...yeah, love ya too...c'mon...please, let go..."

And thus is a small part in the life of a new student of Nintendo High.


	8. Food Fights

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 8: Food Fights  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on December 29, 2012.)_ _ **  
**_

Mario lovingly leafed through his latest issue of Food Network Magazine, reading every recipe he came across and making note of which ones he wanted to try next. It was one of his greatest dreams to be featured with a recipe of his own beside the likes of those whose faces graced the articles. Sonic lightly nudged Mario with his elbow. "Hey, Mario," he whispered. "Think I can borrow that for my next class? I need an example of a magazine article, but I forgot to pick one up."

"You have Toadsworth too, huh?" Mario said, laughing slightly.

"Ugh, yeah," Sonic sighed.

"Sure, I guess you can borrow it." Mario closed the magazine and handed it to Sonic. "It's mostly recipes, but there's a good article on page 23."

"Thanks, dude," Sonic said, smiling. "I promise I'll give it back tomorrow."

Soon enough, the bell rang signaling the end of class. Luigi met up with Mario, though he noticed Sonic walking off with the issue of Food Network. "Isn't that your foodie magazine?" Luigi asked, pointing at Sonic.

"Yeah," Mario said. "I let Sonic borrow it since he has Toadsworth too."

"I see." Luigi then remembered something. "Speaking of which, Yoshi said something earlier about cookies that he made. He said he was gonna bring some to us during lunch."

"Sweet!" said Mario. Like himself, Yoshi was a foodie and an aspiring chef. Mario knew that his best friend's baking wouldn't disappoint.

Later, at lunch, Mario and the others got to try the cookies that Yoshi had baked. "Wow, Yoshi!" Daisy exclaimed. "These are _really_ good!"

"Thanks," Yoshi said, smiling. "I wasn't sure the recipe would turn out quite right at first, but obviously it did."

"Where'd you get the recipe, anyway?" Peach asked.

"The internet."

"These are some good cookies, regardless," Luigi said in between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, you'll have to send me that recipe sometime," Mario added.

Yoshi couldn't help but chuckle. "Thanks, guys!"

"So, Mario, Yoshi, I'm curious about something," Daisy said. "Who do you think's the better chef of you two?"

"Oh, that's an easy one," Mario replied. "I am, of course!" However, there seemed to be an issue with this last statement; Mario and Yoshi had said the exact same words at the exact same time.

"Um..."

"...Ah."

"Oh dear," Peach said softly, noting the now awkward pause this statement had left. "W-well, I think you're both really great chefs!" she insisted. "Possibly equally so?"

Daisy, meanwhile, was clearly forming something in her mind. "This gives me an idea, actually," she said with a grin. "You two should have a contest to see who's the better chef!"

"Uh, I don't think—" Mario started to say, but the girls had clearly run away with the thought.

"That sounds like fun!" Peach squealed. "We can use the kitchen at my house, since it's big enough for two people to work in at once. There are even two separate ovens!"

"I could even film it like one of those big-name chef-vs-chef shows on TV," Luigi added. He turned to Mario and Yoshi. "That is, if it's okay with you guys, of course."

"Well, I guess this could be fun," Yoshi said. "What do you say, Mario?"

Mario sighed. He figured that this would go on even if he protested the notion. "Oh, why not. I've got nothing else going on this weekend, anyway."

"Yaaaay!" the girls exclaimed. With that, they began to formulate the plans for the contest's menu.

* * *

That Friday evening, shortly after school, the five teens made their way to Junes, armed with the menu that they would be sticking to for the contest. At Junes' front door, they spotted something that was quite odd and had not been there in previous visits to the store; what looked like a blue teddy bear wearing a red and white suit with a large zipper around its neck, handing out balloons to the children that came by. "Welcome to Junes!" the "bear" exclaimed. "Here, kid, have a balloon. Every day's great at Junes, folks! Oh, your balloon broke? I'm beary sorry, little girl, have another."

"Wait a minute..." Peach muttered. "I know that voice..."

"Yeah, me too, and I think I know who it is," Yoshi said. He decided to go over to the "bear" to confirm his suspicions, with the others following. "Hey, Waluigi?" Yoshi asked the "bear". "Is that you in there?"

The "bear", while its face obviously didn't change, seemed to take on a posture of shock and embarrassment. "Uh, wh-who's Waluigi?!" the "bear" said loudly with a nervous stutter. "I'm just Teddie, the new Junes mascot! It's beary nice to meet you!"

"Seriously? Bear puns?" Mario sighed.

The "bear" looked around to make sure no children were watching, then motioned for the five soon-to-be shoppers to come a bit closer, which they did. "Yeah, it's me," Waluigi whispered from inside the bear suit. "I just didn't wanna say it out loud because of the kids. They figure out a mascot is just a dude in a smelly suit and it ruins their blissful ignorance."

"Since when did Junes have a mascot?" Mario asked.

"Apparently since now, at least that's when this branch got the suit," Waluigi replied. "Some rural branch in Japan introduced the stupid bear back in July. The higher-ups ended up getting wind of it and decided that every Junes should have a mascot. I guess they had costumes made based on the original and shipped 'em out. We got it a couple days ago, but no one wanted to be in the suit so we drew straws and...yeah."

"Uh-huh..." Mario said, not really having paid attention to much of what Waluigi had said. "Well, see you later, I guess."

With that, the group entered Junes and made their way to the grocery department. "So...what are we making, again?" Yoshi asked.

"Hold on a sec," Daisy replied. She pulled the list out of her pants pocket and unfolded it. "Looks like there'll be cheesy bread rolls first, then there's a chicken-based entrée, then we finish off with cake for dessert."

"Is there a set budget for this?" Luigi asked.

"Oh, no need to worry," Peach said. She smiled as she flashed a gold-colored credit card. "Daddy said it was okay to use my card for this as long as we don't go over $200, but I doubt that'll happen."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mario exclaimed. The group high-fived, then split into two teams and spread out throughout the grocery department. Mario headed straight for the beverage aisle first thing, with Luigi following close behind. "So I was thinking for the cake," Mario explained, "I'm probably gonna keep it fairly simple and go with chocolate." As he explained his plan, he grabbed a liter of wild cherry Pepsi.

"Uh, you realize that we're not doing personal shopping here, right?" Luigi asked, noticing the Pepsi.

"Yeah," Mario replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I noticed you get that Pepsi and—"

"Trust me, bro," Mario interrupted with a wink. "I know what I'm doing."

Meanwhile, Yoshi, Peach, and Daisy were in the produce aisle. As Peach and Daisy were to be the judges, Yoshi wasn't discussing his plans with them, which made his large selection of various fruit seem rather odd. "I can't see how any part of this contest will involve this much fruit," Daisy said, confused.

"You'll understand tomorrow," Yoshi said as he continued to shovel fruit into the kart. "Though...I will admit, some of this is just snacks."

Soon enough, the five friends reconvened and headed to the checkout. The total price of their ingredients luckily ended up being considerably under budget. After checking out and leaving the store (taking the time to wave at Walu-Teddie as they passed by), they made their way to Peach's house, which in all honesty seemed a bit more like a mansion. They had planned to have a sleepover the night before the cook-off. "So, what are you guys planning on cooking tomorrow?" Peach asked.

Yoshi shook his head. "Can't say," he insisted.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to sway our judges, now would we?" Mario chuckled.

"You got a point there," Daisy said. She turned to Luigi, who was busy prepping his camera for the next day. "Hey, can't that wait until morning?"

"Huh?" Luigi looked up from his camera at Daisy's remark. "Oh, yeah, sure." He put the camera down and went over to his sleeping bag.

"Well, we'd better get some sleep, then," Daisy said. "G'night, guys."

Everyone said their good-nights and began to slowly drift off to sleep. Peach and Mario were the last two to fall asleep. Just as Peach's eyelids began to droop, she heard a noise coming from outside, something that sounded like a person moving about on the grounds. "What was that?" she whispered, sitting up with a start.

"What was what?" Mario mumbled.

"...I thought I heard someone outside..." Peach said nervously.

"Probably just the wind or an animal or something."

"Even so..." The sudden noise had made Peach uneasy. "I'll call the security company and have someone check it out in the morning. It's getting close to Halloween, someone might be trying to scope the place out to plan a prank."

Mario chuckled. "Rich people sure are paranoid, huh?" He moved over to where Peach was sitting and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Seriously, though, I understand. It sucks trying to explain to your parents why there's shaving cream on the walls and toilet paper hanging from the trees."

"Like last year?" Peach giggled.

"Yeah, like last year," Mario said. "Well, good night, then." And with that, Mario and Peach were able to sleep soundly, putting thoughts of prank-happy trespassers out of their mind.

* * *

"All right, everyone!" Luigi announced from behind his trusty video camera. "The first ever Platinum Chef competition is about to get underway! Let's meet our contestants!" He panned over to Mario and Yoshi, both now donning an apron and a white paper chef's hat. "We have as our contestants, Mario Segali and Yoshi Dino! And our judges—" (he panned over to Peach and Daisy) "—Peach Toadstool and Daisy Sarasa! Now, chefs, let's get this show on the road!"

The two chefs then began to bake their first dish; the cheese bread. Thankfully, unlike those rowdy Food Network shows, there was no frantic rushing around and such due to the lack of time limit. Soon enough, they had finished making the cheesy rolls and were serving them to their judges.

"They taste...about the same," Peach said after having sampled both selections of bread.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree," Daisy concurred. "But hey, that just means they're both really good!"

"I kind of expected we'd tie on the bread," Mario admitted. "S'not exactly hard stuff.

"Speak for yourself, dude," Yoshi jokingly retorted, "you have more fingers on each hand than I do." He wiggled his flour-coated fingers in Mario's face to prove his "point".

"That's...not much of an advantage..."

After receiving the tie for the bread, the two chefs moved on to preparing the chicken dish. Mario put some pasta into a pot of boiling water to accompany his chicken and began to prepare a marinara sauce. Meanwhile, Yoshi was slicing a large pineapple, squeezing the juice out of some of the slices and mixing it in a bowl with ketchup and spices.

"Y'know, I used to think having more than one oven at home was kind of pretentious," said Mario as he checked his baking chicken. "This is actually really useful for stuff like this."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Peach laughed the comment off, though she was still slightly embarrassed by it.

"Yeah, I bet this'd be great for a party or somethin'," Yoshi added.

"Funny you should mention that!" Peach replied. "Since Halloween is coming up, so is our annual Halloween party. You guys are all invited, of course!"

"Awesome!"

Soon enough, the chicken dishes were done and the small talk had once again subsided. "Looks like our two chefs went in different directions with their entrée," Luigi narrated, zooming in with his camera to get as much detail of the food as he could. He then zoomed back out and panned over to the two chefs. "Care to explain your methods, gentlemen?"

"Sure thing," Mario said, motioning to his dish. "This is chicken parmesan with spaghetti and a light marinara sauce."

"Ooh, sounds heavenly!" Peach exclaimed.

"Looks and smells great, too!" Daisy said. Both of the judges took a bite of Mario's dish and wide grins soon spread across their faces.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Peach said.

"Agreed, 100 percent!" added Daisy.

"All right," Luigi said, panning over to Yoshi. "Now let's see what Yoshi's serving!"

"This is a Hawaiian-style barbecue with pineapple," Yoshi explained. "I used pineapple juice instead of sugar to sweeten the sauce."

Peach and Daisy tried Yoshi's dish, both smiling as they did. "Bit of an odd combination, but it works," Peach said happily.

"Yeah, it's good," Daisy said. "But I think I'm gonna say Mario gets the win on the chicken."

"Me too," Peach agreed. "Sorry, Yoshi."

"Oh, it's okay," Yoshi said.

"Looks like Mario gets his first point for the chicken!" Luigi announced, moving his camera back to Mario's dish. "But who'll take the cake in the final challenge?"

"Why've you been doing that dumb narration this whole time?" Mario asked, slightly annoyed. "Can't you just record that later and add it in post?"

"I don't have a separate mike yet..." Luigi muttered sheepishly.

Finally, it was time for the competing chefs to bake their cakes. As Mario mixed the batter for his chocolate cake, he threw in a cup of the cherry Pepsi he had bought and chugged the rest of the bottle on his own. Yoshi also ended up adding fruit to his white cake, though he put his fruit in between the layers along with the icing. Soon both cakes were done and ready for the taste test, with Mario's up first. "This chocolate cake is so rich!" Peach practically squealed.

"It's got a bit of an unexpected tang to it, though," Daisy said. "Did you put any fruit in it?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Mario replied. "I poured in some cherry Pepsi."

"What, seriously?" Daisy asked. "It doesn't even taste like there's Pepsi in it!"

"Interesting..." Peach noted. The two judges then tasted Yoshi's fruity layer cake. "It's so light and fluffy!" Peach exclaimed in delight. "And the juice from the fruit mixes so well with the cream!"

"I gotta say, I think Yoshi's cake is the best cake I've eaten in a while," Daisy said.

"Me too!" Peach agreed. "So Yoshi wins the cake challenge!"

"So hang on..." Yoshi muttered, figuring up the results of the contest in his head. "We tied on the bread, then Mario got a point for the chicken, and now I have a point for the cake..." He then came to a slightly awkward conclusion. "Doesn't that mean...?!"

"I think it does..." Mario muttered. "It's a _tie!_ "

Daisy sighed in exasperation. "Man!" she moaned. "That means this whole contest didn't solve anything!"

"Yes it did!" Peach said, remembering something she had said when they had originally come up with the contest idea. "You guys all thought the best cook could only be either Mario or Yoshi, but it turns out that, at least according to the results of our contest, that they're equally good cooks!"

"Either way, no matter our personal results, I feel this is a victory for the culinary arts all around," Yoshi said proudly.

"And the media arts, as well!" Luigi said, looking at the playback on his camera. "Even if this doesn't go over well on YouTube, it's still great practice for the future!"

Mario grinned, then took off the apron and chef's hat and sat down at the judges' table. "Well, now that that's all settled, can you girls _please_ stop dragging us into these silly competitions?"

"We promise!" Peach and Daisy said.


	9. Call of the Woods

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 9: Call of the Woods  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on January 17, 2013.)_ _ **  
**_

It was a breezy Friday afternoon when it happened. The much anticipated school camp-out was about to get under way. Two buses were parked in front of Nintendo High about a half hour after everyone would normally have been dropped off at home or otherwise left the school, but those who were attending the camp-out were crowded around the front doors, chatting excitedly as their backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, and other supplies were loaded into the buses' cargo holds by the eager and helpful members of Club Pikmin. Olimar Ligase, the Hocotatian teacher who had organized the camp-out, made his way to the front of the group of students, along with Coach DK, Ballyhoo, and Samus, who were accompanying as teacher chaperones.

Olimar held up a hand and cleared his throat to get the students' attention. "Good afternoon, everyone!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for signing up for this camp-out. I'm simply delighted to experience the wonder of the Kokiri Forest with all of you! Now, everyone be sure to remember your groups. If all of the freshmen could come with me, please, we'll begin boarding the buses."

The students soon began to board, with freshmen and sophomores in one bus with Olimar and Coach DK, and juniors and seniors in the other with Ballyhoo and Samus. It didn't go unnoticed by any of the students that Pit had offered to help Samus with her things, as they all had a small belief that the angel boy had a crush on their lady gym teacher.

However, this story is not about Pit and Samus. This story focuses on Pika and the group he had formed with May, the Isberg siblings Popo and Nana, and Issun. Originally the groups were only supposed to consist of two boys and two girls each, but as there were an uneven number of freshman, Issun was made to join an already full group, which was thankfully not much of a bother because he was barely over two-and-a-half inches tall. "Aw yeah, this is gonna be so awesome!" Issun exclaimed, bouncing around the two seats the other members of his group occupied. "My parents always told me that they grew up in a magic forest, so maybe there'll be other Poncles living in this forest, too!"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Issun," Pika said, looking over a printout of a guide for the camp-out. "It says here that the Kokiri Forest is inhabited solely by Kokiri, though there may also be some Deku Scrubs somewhere in there." He looked up and noticed Issun still bouncing around like a kid with too much sugar. "Hey, could you quit bouncing around like that?" he asked. "You're making me kind of nervous. What'll happen when the bus starts?"

"Relax!" Issun scoffed, momentarily pausing his bouncing. "When the bus starts, I'll just keep myself in place by holdin' on to your hai—AAAH!" Issun had tried to demonstrate what he was talking about, but had received a nasty jolt from the static build-up in Pika's hair. "You seriously need to do something about that charge, yo."

"I can't help it..."

"So, did you hear the rumors about what's in that cooler the teachers brought?" Popo asked.

"What rumors?" May asked, slightly confused. "All those coolers were for our lunch ingredients. I saw it myself when I put my share in."

"No, I mean the blue cooler," Popo said. "Y'know, the one they wouldn't let us get in to?" He looked around, then continued in a whisper, "One of the juniors said that a student managed to sneak a peek inside, and there's apparently cake and fruit and all kinds of awesome stuff in there!"

"Seriously?" Nana asked. "I dunno, that doesn't sound like something they'd do."

"Not really a camping-appropriate selection of food, but if it's true, then I'm certainly not complaining!" May exclaimed with a laugh.

"I just can't wait!" Issun exclaimed, bouncing on every word.

Just then, the bus driver shouted from the front of the bus, "All right, hold on t'yer buttocks, lads 'n lasses, we be shovin' off now!" The bus started up and began to drive a bit faster than it should have in a parking lot. Just as Pika had predicted, the sudden forward momentum caused Issun to be flung from his place on the back of the seat and onto the floor, rolling all the way to the back of the bus. Thankfully, Issun managed to bounce back to his group none the worse for wear.

"Heh, I thought that bugs usually splat on the _front_ of the vehicle," May said jokingly.

"Shut your face!" Issun shouted. "I ain't no bug!"

The bus continued onward, making great time due to its specially built engine that allowed it to drive fast and make safe, precise movements through the streets while maintaining a low inertia to the passengers. Still, the students had plenty of time to make conversation and joke around with one another. In Pika's group in particular, Popo was telling everyone a story of a camping trip he had been on as a child that involved a toy beam sword, oversized socks, and a bat that had wandered into his tent. "THIS IS MY KINGDOM!" Popo shouted, making upwards jabbing motions to illustrate what he was doing in order to ward off the animal. "GET OFF MY FLOP-SOCK!" While other nearby students glanced over at the group with odd expressions, Popo's fellow team members laughed at the ridiculous yet true story.

"That story never gets old, Popo!" Nana giggled.

"Yeah, cool story, bro," Issun said. "So anyway, what're the sleeping arrangements for this camp-out gonna be? Huh? Huuuuuuh?"

"Ugh, I know what you're planning," May groaned. "Guys and girls are sleeping in _separate_ tents, got it? And even if the school didn't threaten detention to those who broke the rules, _I'd_ still insist on it!"

Issun stopped bouncing. "Sheesh, girls are always so paranoid!" he said, acting as if he was taken aback.

"It doesn't help your case that you were kinda being a creep about it," Pika pointed out.

The bus suddenly stopped at a red light and Issun, not having learned from last time, was flung from the back of the seat again, this time colliding with the inside of the windshield due to his group having chosen to sit close to the front. "And here I be thinkin' bugs always splat on the _outside_ o'the bus..." the driver mused.

* * *

Soon enough the buses had arrived at their destination. The outskirts of the Kokiri Forest made the place seem pleasant and inviting, which was helped by the friendly faces on the green-clad children waiting for the students. Each of the children were accompanied by a glowing fairy. "Welcome, welcome to the Kokiri Forest!" one of the boys exclaimed. "My name is Mido, the acting head of the Kokiri and your guide for tomorrow's hiking tour."

"Now wait a minute!" Olimar said, somewhat confused. "I thought our guide was to be Miss Saria. That's who I contact, anyway..."

"Ah, about that..." Mido replied, embarrassed. "Saria _was_ going to be the guide, but something urgent came up and she's been super-busy taking care of it." He then clapped his hands together. "All right, then! First things first, our payment?"

"Payment?" A murmur spread through the students. "What's he talking about?"

"It's right here!" Samus called out. Nearly everyone turned to see that she was carrying a blue cooler over to the children. Two twin Kokiri girls went over to the cooler and opened it, revealing cakes and large cups of sliced fruit.

"Is that...?"

"The cake chest...it's gotta be..."

When the Kokiri finished inspecting the cooler's contents, the twins picked up each end and carried it into the forest. Mido then cleared his throat and the disappointed chatter over the cake cooler subsided. "All right, outsiders, listen up!" he said loudly so that everyone could hear him. "Just because we look like little kids doesn't mean there's no guarantee that we're not as old as if not older than the oldest member of your group, grown-ups included. So you better listen to us, 'cuz we know what we're talking about. Clean up all your trash, don't take anything weird from the woods, and stay on the marked paths." His face then broke into a sinister grin. "We can't guarantee your complete safety if you break any of those rules, y'know."

The students seemed uneasy at this last statement. However, upon seeing their expressions, a Kokiri girl wearing buns in her blonde hair laughed. "Oh, there's no need to worry, everyone!" she told them. "Mido just enjoys his little jokes sometimes! Haha!"

Later that evening, everyone had pitched their tents after eating dinner. It was time for bed, but there seemed to be some unease among at least three of the students. "So..." Issun said softly to the other boys of his group. "Is it just me or can you guys not get any sleep, either?"

"Yeah, I'm having trouble sleeping, too," Pika answered. "The ground's all lumpy and I can feel it through my sleeping bag..."

"Such is the norm with camping," Popo said with a yawn. "We should try to get to sleep anyway. I think we're supposed to get up at 8..."

"Hope you brought an alarm," Pika chuckled. "There's no way I'm getting up that early on my own..."

Eventually, despite earlier problems, the three boys did end up falling asleep. After about an hour, Pikas eyes opened half-way. "...calling...me..." he muttered sleepily. He slowly got out of his sleeping bag, stood up, and began to walk out of the tent, nudging Popo with his foot as he did so.

"Huh...?" Popo groggily sat up and noticed Pika leaving. "Hey, where are you going...?" he asked. Pika gave no response, but continued to slowly walk away from the tent. "Wait, come back!"

Issun was also awakened by Popo's sudden shout. "Hey, what's goin' on?" he asked, looking around.

"I dunno," Popo said. "Go get the girls, I'll try to stop him."

Popo then exited the tent and ran after Pika, trying to stay out of sight of any potential patrolling teachers. Issun bounced off in the opposite direction and later made his way back with May and Nana following him. "What's so important that you had to wake us up in the middle of the night?" May asked angrily.

"Pika's sleepwalking or something, I dunno!" Issun replied. "Popo's trying to keep him from going too far and he needs help!" They kept running until they came across Popo, sitting on the ground and cradling his hands.

"Popo!" Nana cried. "What happened?"

"He shocked me!" Popo shouted. He showed his hands, which appeared to be inflamed. "I grabbed him to try and lead him back to the tent, but I guess some kinda subconscious reflex happened and now my hands feel like they're on fire..."

"Where'd Pika go, anyway?" Issun asked. Popo pointed forward. The other three looked and immediately their faces fell. Pika had wandered off through the entrance to the forest.

"Oh no..." Nana muttered, distressed.

"...So what do we do?" May asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Issun scoffed. "We go in after him, of course! Even if he wasn't half-asleep, it's too dark to see the paths properly, so either way he'd be screwed in there."

"They did put us into groups for a reason, after all," Popo sighed. He stood up, still gingerly rubbing his hands. "C'mon, let's go."

* * *

The next morning, all the students gathered in front of the entrance of the forest; all, that is, except for Pika's group. The teachers went to check the tents that their group were occupying, but to no avail. "I don't understand..." Olimar muttered, confused. "Where could they have gone?"

"I believe I have the answer!" a boy's voice exclaimed. Olimar turned to see the Kokiri children had returned, with Mido once again at their lead. "Last night, Redo and Remi said they saw someone in yellow wandering around the forest with his eyes closed," Mido told the teachers. "Yellow hair and somewhat dark skin. Does that sound like any of the missing kids?"

"That sounds about like Pika," Ballyhoo muttered.

"The others in his group must've went after him," Coach DK said. "But then where are they now?"

"Who knows?" Mido shrugged. "Someone goes in there without some type of guide and they could be lost forever..."

"Everyone who goes in will become a Stalfos..." the bun-wearing Kokiri said in an ominous, hushed tone. "That's what I heard a long time ago..." This statement sparked a flurry of worried murmurs amongst the younger students, most of whom had never heard of Stalfos before. A wave of fear spread through the older students who had taken a Worlds History class, however, as well as to the teachers.

"That ain't happening on my watch," Mido said. He nodded to his fairy partner, who flew over to a nearby tree and whispered into its leaves. "We've just sent a message to the others," he told the teachers. "If anyone finds them, they'll bring 'em to meet up with us on the trail."

* * *

The sunlight filtering through the trees danced across their sleeping faces. Popo was the first to awaken. He glanced over at Pika, who had stopped sleepwalking and collapsed. Popo stood up, slightly disturbing the others who were leaning on him in their sleep, and made his way over to Pika. "Pika..." he whispered, gently nudging the errant sleepwalker. "Hey, wake up..."

Pika let out a light groan and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw that what was above him was not the ceiling of the tent, but the leaves of many tall trees, he sat up with a start. "Wha-where are we?!" he shouted. "How'd we get here?"

"You were sleepwalking, dude," Issun said, bouncing over to the other two boys.

"Sleepwalking?" Pika asked, confused. "B-but I haven't had problems with sleepwalking since I was seven!" He groaned. "Aw, what a _great_ time for that mess to come back..."

"Guys..." Nana whimpered. "Where are we?" Everyone then realized a sickening feeling...they were hopelessly lost in the forest.

"How are we gonna get out of here?" May asked, worried.

"Hold on, I remember this," Issun said. "Okay, guys, everyone follow me! The sun rises in the west, and we made camp at the west entrance, so if we follow the sun we'll get out of here eventually!"

The others followed Issun quite a ways through the forest, but then May spoke up. "Wait, I thought the sun rose in the east..."

Issun stopped in his tracks. "Ah crap...you're right...silly me, I always get those two mixed up..."

May screamed in frustration. "We're never getting out of here!" she cried. "You stupid bug, you're so _useless!_ "

"I keep telling you, I _ain't no_ _ **bug!**_ " Issun shouted.

"Guys, calm down," Popo said. "Fighting isn't going to get us out of here! Guys!"

Pika then seemed briefly startled. He looked around. "Hey, guys, does anyone else hear that?" he asked. Everyone went quiet and listened. They too could hear it; a faint chanting that didn't seem to be any language they knew. "I heard that in my dream last night," Pika said. "You don't think it was somehow leading me here...?"

Pika started to move towards the chanting, almost stepping off the path before an unseen voice shouted at the group. "Stop! Don't go any further!" Everyone turned toward the voice, which belonged to a Kokiri girl with bright green hair. She was holding a hand-carved ocarina. "Are you the students who went missing?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah..." Pika muttered, confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Saria," the girl said. "I got a message from the others that five outsiders had entered the forest last night and became lost."

"Yeah, kinda funny how that happened," Popo said with a nervous laugh.

"Can you get us out of here?" Nana asked.

"I could," Saria said, "but I was told to reunite you with the other outsiders if I found you. I'll take you to them, then you can exit with them." She held up her ocarina and prepared to play it. "Follow me, then."

"W-wait!" Pika exclaimed. "I have to know what that chanting was. I think I'll go mad if I never figure it out..."

Saria sighed. "Well, I guess it'll be safe if you're with me," she said. Saria carefully stepped off the path and brushed some branches out of the way. With the branches out of the way, they could see a clearing full of yellow mouse-like creature scampering about, sparks flying from their cheeks as they frolicked about.

" _That's_ what woke me up?!" Pika half-shouted in disbelief. "A bunch of freaking Pikachu?!"

"Oh, that's what they are," Saria said, amazed. "I've been trying to get them out of the forest for days now. They're not a native species, and the trees don't like them being here."

"Look at all of 'em..." Popo said in awe.

"Might even be more than a hundred..." Nana added.

With that out of the way, Saria led the students through the forest, playing a catchy little tune on her ocarina as they went. "There's just one thing that bothers me," Pika muttered soon after they had been rejoined with the others. "How could I have heard the cries of those Pikachu from all the way where we were sleeping?" He turned to the other four. "Did you guys hear any of it last night?" he asked.

"I don't remember hearing anything," May admitted.

"To be honest, we were more concerned about keeping you safe," Issun said.

"That's...that's really weird..."

* * *

AN: Posting this the day after last chapter because I forgot last week's update, which is what yesterday's update was to make up for. Also, to the person who asked about Lucas' inclusion, don't worry, I plan to include every Smash fighter from every Smash game in Nintendo High except for Dr. Mario and Bowser Jr./the Koopalings (and if this goes on long enough to see the cast into adulthood, that may change).


	10. All Hallow's Peeves

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 10: All Hallows Peeves  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on January 25, 2013.)_ _ **  
**_

The Tuesday before Halloween was like any typical Tuesday. The faculty of Nintendo High were holding one of their weekly staff meetings in the teacher's lounge after the day's classes had let out. They had just about wrapped up, and couldn't wait to get out of the room filled with the ugliest pink furniture in existence. "...and as I'm sure you've heard already," Masterson said as his last announcement of the meeting, "there's been news passing of a Halloween party taking place this Saturday, so those with later-day classes might notice their students' attention span lacking."

"What, more so than usual?" Kamek asked sarcastically. A few of the others present let out a laugh.

"Haha, yes, well then," Masterson continued. "Also, next Monday is Halloween, and as is with every year, everyone will be allowed to dress in costume for the day, both students and staff. So, anything else on your minds?"

"I got nothin'," Officer Pliskin said. He casually put his hand in one of his pockets.

"You better not be reaching for a cigarette, Pliskin," Masterson warned him.

"No, no," Pliskin hastily replied. "'Course not."

"While we're still all here," Agatha Mort, one of the history teachers, interrupted, "I'm going to need a guest speaker form for Thursday."

"All right, then, I'll get that printed out for you real quick—" At that moment, a slightly muffled science-fiction-sounding tune began to play in the room. "Er, sorry about that," Masterson said, embarrassed. He pulled his ringing cell phone out of his pocket and answered the caller. "Hello? ...Oh, Mr. Emmerich! Long time, no talk. How are you?" He turned back to the other teachers and staff. "I'll just take this outside," he said, and did just that. As Masterson left, Pliskin couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"You planned that, didn't you?" Jones asked him, smirking.

"Yep," Pliskin admitted. "He'll be kept busy for _quite_ a while." He then let a sadistic grin spread across his face. "Now let's get started. You all know what Monday is. Anyone willing to share their plans?"

"Revealing it'd spoil the surprise for everyone," Kamek chuckled.

"Wait, what's going on Monday?" Navi asked. "Well, aside from Halloween, of course."

"Oh, that's right, you only started teaching here this past February," Agatha said. "Basically every Halloween, all the teachers and staff try to scare the pants off of Masterson."

"And whoever pulls it off gets their Thanksgiving dinner paid off in full, courtesy of this guy," DK added, nodding toward Pliskin.

"Well, since we have a newbie among us this year, let's take the time to go over the rules again," Pliskin said. "Number one, no trying to scare him before 7 am or after 3:30 pm. Number two, no real violence is allowed, but illusions of violence through magic or trickery are okay."

"Number three, no weeping angels," Samus added with a sigh. " _God_ , those things've been overused..."

"What are—"

"Never mind."

"You all have fun on Monday," Ballyhoo chuckled. "I think I'll pass this year."

"Wait, didn't you win last year?" Jones asked.

"Exactly."

"Well, I think that wraps up this discussion," Pliskin said. He took out the device from his pocket that he had used to signal Masterson's caller, and pushed the button again to signal for the caller to end his diversion.

Soon enough, Masterson had hung up his phone and re-entered the room. "Sorry about that, everyone," he said apologetically. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, really," Jones replied.

"...Right." Masterson didn't get his position as principal just because the school had been founded by his ancestor; he was an intelligent man, and could always tell when people were up to something. Still, on good faith, he chose to ignore it for the time being. "Well then," he continued, "if we're done here, let's bring this meeting to a close. I'll get that form for you, Agatha, and as for the rest of you, good night and I'll see you tomorrow." With that, the teachers and staff disbanded, the gleams of plans for scaring in their eyes.

* * *

Saturday was the day of Peach's big Halloween party, and those who had been invited were busy making their last-minute preparations. Mario had almost finished up his vampire costume, and was now attempting to put the false teeth on in front of the mirror. "Lessee if these actually fit right..." he muttered as he picked up the first of the two fangs.

"Hey, Mario!" Luigi shouted from the other room. "I finally got a costume!"

"What, just today?" Mario shouted back, still trying to finagle the first fang. "Took you long enough, huh?"

"Yeah!" A brief pause, then, "Wanna see?"

"Sure, just bring it to the bathroom," Mario replied. Then realizing what he might've implied, he added, "I'm decent!"

A barrage of footsteps were heard, soon followed by a knock on the bathroom door's frame. Mario turned to see Luigi, who was already dressed in his costume; a banana. Upon seeing this, Mario burst into laughter. "Oh god! Th-that's awesome, bro!" he exclaimed in between laughs. "Ahh, I almost dropped the tooth down the sink..."

* * *

Link straightened the specialty wig that had arrived just the previous day. It had cost the better part of his paycheck from the ranch, but it was well worth it as creating a custom Death the Kid wig is commonly known to be a pain in the rear; also, being high quality, it would still be quite usable in the event that he was able to attend an anime convention. "Hope the wig doesn't get helmet hair," he said to himself. "Oh well." Straightening it a bit again, since he knew someone would be bound to bother him about it if it wasn't as close to perfect as he could get it, he exited the bathroom with a little dance in his step. He was almost down the stairs when he noticed Tony standing in front of the front door, wearing a store-bought Iron Man costume and holding a trick-or-treat bucket.

"You're coming in costume, huh?" Tony asked.

Link just stared, confused. "What're you talking about?" he asked.

"Mom said you were taking me trick-or-treating," Tony said. He pulled down his mask for emphasis.

Link turned slowly, walked back up the stairs and headed for their mother's room. "Mooom!" he called out. He looked fine, but there was a sense of anger in his voice.

"What's wrong, Link?" his mother asked once he had arrived in her room.

"When did you tell Tony I'd take him trick-or-treating?" he asked.

"I thought that was your plan all along," his mom said, confused. "I mean, you have a costume and everything."

"This isn't just for Halloween," Link insisted. "Besides, I've already been invi—"

"Link, this is the last year he's going to get to do this," his mom said. "I'm sure whatever plans you had tonight aren't as important as spending time with your only brother."

Link let out a groan of annoyance and stormed down the stairs. He then turned to Tony. "Well, Iron Midget, ready to completely ruin my evening?" he asked angrily.

Tony was about to answer, but the doorbell cut him off. Being closer, Tony opened the door and let in Skull Kid, who was dressed as Excalibur, another character from the same show as Link's costume. "All right, who's ready for some par-tay?!"

"...I could've _sworn_ you'd be dressed as Edward Elric..." Link said.

"I figured being an annoying character would suit me better," Skull Kid said. He then noticed that Link still looked a bit upset. "What's wrong?"

"Seems I'm taking Tony trick-or-treating tonight instead of going to the party..." Link sighed.

"...Y'know..." Skull Kid said, whispering in case Mrs. Mancini was listening, "Peach said there'd be candy at the party, and I doubt she'd be opposed to one extra guest..."

"You got a point," Link said, grinning. "And this is Peach we're talking about, so it'd be both fun _and_ safe."

"What're you guys going on about?" Tony asked.

Link smiled, turned to Tony, and said, "If you promise not to tell Mom, we'll show you how the big kids spend their Halloween."

* * *

Even in its early stages, the party at Peach's house was looking to be the event of the year. Everyone present was dancing, relaxing, and generally having a good time. "I'm so glad everyone I invited could make it!" Peach exclaimed, matching Mario in her own vampire outfit.

"Who in their right mind would pass this up?" Mario asked. "Everyone knows your parties are always the best—" He had to stop talking for a bit to brush away glitter that was raining down on his face."Cut that out!" he said to Wario, who was wearing his normal outfit aside from a smugly grinning paper mask that barely obscured his own grin.

"Don't blame me, I thought all vampires sparkled!" Wario laughed. Peach and Mario stared at him angrily.

"Wario!" Waluigi exclaimed. He was dressed in all black with a grey zodiac symbol on his t-shirt, with grey face-paint and gloves, black dyed hair, and candy corn-colored horns. "What's this stupid face thing? I thought you wanted us to both be trolls!"

"Hey, I'm troll-face, troll face!" Wario chuckled. "I didn't specify what _kind_ of troll, stupid! You probably just went with whatever came up on Google first."

" _That's_ what comes up first on Google!" Waluigi stated, pointing at Wario's mask. "I bothered to do research for this stupid costume; I would've cross-dressed for you if my zodiac sign matched with one of the girls!"

Meanwhile, Ivo (dressed as Dr. Stein from Soul Eater), Dedede (a ninja), and Ganondorf (a half-transformed werewolf) were hanging around the refreshments table, watching the dance floor. "So I heard Peach got the restraining order she had on Bowser repealed," Dedede said.

"Yeah," Ivo confirmed. He turned the oversized screw attached to his head, which was really nothing more than a noisemaker inside a cardboard cylinder. "It was difficult for him, since she set a few steep conditions for it."

"So what'd he have to do?" Ganondorf asked.

"First, he had to write a page-long apology statement," Ivo said.

"And second?" Dedede asked.

"He had to wear an embarrassing outfit to the party." Ivo pointed over to where Bowser was dancing. He was wearing what looked to be a Marilyn Monroe-style dress that had been let out ten times over, complete with a curly blonde wig, though without shoes due to the size of his feet.

Dedede nodded in approval. "I'd say that counts as embarrassing," he said.

At that moment, Prince Boo and Petey Piranha approached the three guys. While Prince Boo had taken a classy route with his costume, having dressed in typical masquerade ball attire, Petey Piranha had dressed as a slasher flick villain complete with a hockey mask. "Lookin' good, guys!" Petey said to them.

"A wolfman, a ninja, and a mad scientist," Prince Boo commented with his typical toothy grin. "Nice costumes you got there, hehe."

"That reminds me," Ivo said. "Dedede, why're you dressed as a ninja?"

"Because ninjas are _silent_ and _deadly_ ," Dedede said with a sly grin. Ivo gave Dedede an odd look, then realized what Dedede had meant. He put his arms up in frustration and walked away.

Meanwhile, Mario was spending most of his time at the party with Peach, understandably so. "So did you ever find out about what happened the night I stayed over?" Mario asked. "I meant to ask sooner, but I forgot."

"Oh yeah," Peach said. She had almost completely forgotten about that incident. "The security officer said he saw a kid with white hair hanging around, but he let him go because he seemed pretty harmless."

"Well, that's a relief." The party continued on with everyone in good spirits; well, everyone except for Waluigi, who was becoming increasingly annoyed that people kept making references to the comic that his costume originated from. He finally got so frustrated that he flew into an uncontrollable rage. He took the horns off his head and stomped on them, snapping the headband clean in two, then he took off the zodiac t-shirt and used it to wipe the paint from his face, finally tossing it onto the floor and storming off, letting out a long and strained yell throughout his entire tantrum. Thankfully, this brief moment did nothing to dampen everyone else's fervor.

Halfway down the walkway from Peach's house, Waluigi's rage had greatly subsided, but he didn't feel comfortable returning to the party after he had made such an ass of himself. Instead, he contented himself with walking home, knowing that the streets would be relatively empty with everyone either at parties or the annual downtown trick-or-treat event. "I'm going to have black dandruff for days," Waluigi sighed to himself. As he kept walking, he accidentally walked into a boy dressed in white. "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going," Waluiigi hastily apologized. "You okay?"

The boy stood up, staring off somewhere past Waluigi. "You really shouldn't wear all black at night," the boy finally said. "You'll be hard to see. You could get hurt."

"...Right," Waluigi replied. The boy then walked off, his steps uneven and his whole movement being very wobbly and erratic. "Hey, do you need any help there?" Waluigi asked, but the boy didn't respond. "Weirdo..."

* * *

The day of Halloween finally came. Students and staff alike had arrived in costume, but soon the already odd day would become much more hectic. Kamella ran as fast as she could to Principal Masterson's office, arriving in a panic. "P-Principal Masterson!" she shrieked, still out of breath. "You gotta come with me, my uncle, he's..." She then ran off, screaming and unable to finish her message. Masterson leapt from his chair and followed Kamella as fast as he could to Kamek's classroom, where a gruesome scene awaited; Kamek was suspended from the ceiling by a noose around his neck, dead.

"My god..." Masterson breathlessly uttered. He then noticed something about the Magikoopa's corpse that looked a bit...odd. Curious, he approached the body and, for no reason anyone else watching could ascertain, reached up and tickled the body's nostrils.

Kamek's body then let loose a loud sneeze. It turned out that he had merely been using his hovering magic to give the impression he had hung himself. "Ah, nuts," he laughed, gradually floating down. "What gave me away?"

"Too much slack on the rope," Masterson explained, "and I could see that you were still breathing."

Throughout the entire day, all the teachers attempted to scare Masterson with whatever means necessary. Jones had tried sneaking up on him, but Masterson had turned around at the last minute. Agatha intended to coax one of her Haunter to scare him, but the Haunter had its own ideas and instead made him laugh. Samus had hidden under his desk and attempted to grab his leg when he least expected it, but Masterson drew his legs up into his chair and peeked underneath to greet her with smile. By the last hour of the day, everything had been tried from screamer video emails to an elaborate rig that would drip fake blood onto his desk throughout the day, the latter of which only succeeded in making him upset for a different reason entirely.

At 3 pm, Navi entered Masterson's office, seeming a bit nervous. "Excuse me, Principal Masterson?" she asked softly.

"Ah, Navi, welcome," Masterson said. "Is there anything you need?"

"I don't want to be a bother," Navi said. "But...can I tell you a story? A student told one of my classes a scary story earlier and I thought you would like to hear it."

"Well, I don't have anything else that I need to work on at the moment, so I guess it's okay," Masterson replied.

Navi then set about telling Masterson a tale of an old man living alone in the woods with his dogs and his encounter with a strange creature of which he had severed and eaten its tail. Navi being a good storyteller and Masterson being a good listener, he hung on every word; he was so attentive that he never noticed a fishing line attached to a model police box on the shelf behind him. "...and then the old man shouted at the creature in fright, 'I ain't got your taily-po!'" Navi exclaimed, almost having finished the story. "The creature inched closer, their faces almost touching... 'Yes...you...DO!'"

At the final word, Navi pulled on the fishing wire, causing the model police box to fall to the floor with a large thump. The loud noise caused Masterson to jump in his seat and yelled loudly. "Oh my god!" he screamed. He turned around to see what had fallen, breathing heavily, and realized upon Navi's burst of laughter that he had been played.

"Yes! Yes!" Navi cried in victory. She flew circles above Masterson's desk, reveling in her win. "I did it! Wooo!"

Having been keeping watch throughout the school and observing the scare attempts, Officer Pliskin entered the office grinning from ear to ear. "Holy crap, the newbie finally broke him!" he exclaimed. "This year might be the longest he's gone, too."

"I was _prepared_ this year!" Masterson shouted, now laughing at the absurdity of it. "Oh my _god_..."

Navi high-fived Pliskin's finger, still riding high on the waves of her victory. With that, another Halloween at Nintendo High came to an eventful close.


	11. Terrible Fate

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 11: Terrible Fate  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on February 14, 2013.)_ _ **  
**_

 _Warning: I don't normally have a need to do this kind of thing outside of spoilers for other media, but writing this chapter literally started to make me sick at one point, so it may disturb some readers. While I don't think this is enough to warrant a full-on mature content rating, viewer discretion is still advised._

With the close of Halloween, most people start preparing for the later-year holidays. Thanksgiving was approaching for those living in the states, and for some, that meant preparing for visiting family. Link and Tony were doing just that one slow Saturday, and one of those preparations was to clean the house. The two boys were carefully moving a small, yet bulky, rack through the house, which held Link's collection of antique swords. "So, remind me, why are we taking your swords to the attic?" Tony asked.

"You know Grandma always brings her dumb little dog when she visits," Link explained. "Last year he left a lovely yellow 'surprise' on my swords that required a week to clean up, and since we're cleaning anyway, I'm making sure I don't forget to prevent that this year."

"Can't you just keep 'em in your room?" Tony griped.

"No, it'd take up walking space," Link replied. Soon enough, the boys had reached the entrance to the attic. Link lowered the collapsible staircase and made sure it was relatively stable. "All right, you go up there and hit the lever so the stairs won't wobble when we're carrying this, okay?"

"Mmkay." Tony climbed up the stairs while Link held the bottom down with his foot. Upon reaching the top, Tony turned over a small lever on the side of the staircase's hinge. Since he was up there anyway and had never been allowed in the attic unaccompanied before, he decided to look around. He found some dusty storage containers filled with old toys and clothes, but soon came across something different from everything else.

It was an odd statue that looked like it was modeled after a child younger than himself, dressed in an old-fashioned green tunic and hat and wearing an emotionless expression on its face. There was something about it that was...off, or unsettling, and yet those didn't seem to be strong enough words to describe the feeling Tony was getting from the statue. The feeling was so intense that Tony could no longer stay up there, so he ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

"So did you set the lever while you were up there?" Link asked him, confused as to why Tony was now seemingly hiding behind his leg.

"Y-yeah..."

"Well then, let's get these bad boys up there," Link said, grabbing an end of the sword rack.

Tony's eyes widened and instead of helping his brother with the sword rack, he ducked behind the nearby couch. "Nonononononono!" he shouted. "I'm not going back up there!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Link asked. This behavior from Tony was incredibly odd, considering he could (unsettlingly) blow off zombies' heads in the most detailed of horror video games without batting an eye. "Are there spiders up there?" he asked, his expression turning to worry. "Or rats?"

"N-no..." Tony muttered.

"Then what's the matter?

Tony refused to answer, so Link had no choice but to go up and investigate himself. He looked around, finding the same dusty toy-and-clothing-filled boxes, but then he came across the statue. He looked at it for a bit, then made a face similar to its expression, but with a clear feeling of annoyance to his compared to the lack of emotion on the statue. "How lame..." he muttered.

"You see it?!" Tony shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "You see it, don't you?"

"This dumb statue is what scared him...?" Link asked, confused. He went back downstairs and gave Tony an odd look. "Don't you think it's a little weird for a thirteen-year-old to be afraid of inanimate objects?"

"You didn't feel it?" Tony asked. "There's like something _evil_ coming off that thing! Like it's possessed or something!"

"What would bother possessing something _that_ ugly?" Link laughed. "Look, if you're so worried, I can be first on the stairs while we're carrying the swords up. That way, if anything bad happens, I'll take the bullet and you can get away. Cool?"

Tony was still nervous, but as Link was adamant about getting his swords into the attic, he agreed. The two boys then carried the swords up the stairs and found a clear spot in the attic for them. Link gave the statue another quick look-over, then began to think of a devious idea. "Hey, how about we bring this thing downstairs and put it somewhere to scare Mom?" he asked, grinning.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tony said nervously.

"Aw, c'mon," Link said. "It's harmless fun."

Tony shook his head, worried. "No, we should just leave Ben up here—"

" _Ben?_ It has a name now?" Link asked. "Where'd you come up with that?"

"...I don't know..." Tony realized. He was as confused as Link was. "It just came to me and I said it without thinking..."

Link raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off. "Either way, the more I look at this thing, it seems it's got an odd sort of charm to it." He smiled. "I'll take it with me. If anything, it'll keep Mr. Fuzzbutt or whatever his name is from pawing under my door while he's here."

The two then left the attic, with Link taking the statue. They closed the attic behind them and went about their business as usual. About half an hour later, their mother had returned home from grocery shopping, carrying the first of many grocery bags and a pizza into the house. "Boys, I'm home!" she called into the house. "I've got groceries in the car! Come help me carry the rest in and we can eat some pizza when we're done."

Mrs. Mancini went into the kitchen and put her bags and the pizza down on the table. She then turned around, only to see the odd statue right behind her where it hadn't been before.. She screamed in fright, causing her sons to run to her aid. "Mom, what's wrong?!" Tony called as he approached.

"What happened?" Link asked. "Are you okay?" He then saw the statue in the kitchen. "I thought I left that in my room..."

"Wha...you..." Mrs. Mancini muttered, at a near loss for words. "Wh-where'd you find this thing?"

"In the attic," Link replied. "Why, do you know something about it?"

Mrs. Mancini swallowed, still a bit shaken. "W-well, your father found that statue shortly after we moved in, and..." She shook her head. "Never mind. Just help me with the groceries, and _please_ put that thing somewhere else."

The family brought in the rest of the groceries, put them away, and ate the pizza in relative silence, an awkward air still hanging over the situation. Later that night, when the boys and their mother had turned in for the day, Link lay in his bed with difficulty sleeping. It was more than likely his imagination and tricks of the dim moonlight, but the presence of the statue in his room made it seem as though a malevolent stranger were standing beside him.

"Guess Mom and Tony were right," Link muttered. "You really are one creepy son of a gun." The statue, of course, did not respond; however, the dim lighting briefly made it seem that it glanced over in his direction. Link shuddered, then turned over in his bed and was eventually able to fall asleep.

* * *

 _Link found himself in a narrow hallway lined with mirrors. He walked forward, but on a whim decided to look in one of the mirrors. His reflection's face morphed into an insane, sickly grin with split cheeks and empty eye sockets, black stuff oozing from both the mouth and eyes. Startled, Link turned away and ran down the hallway, a demented giggle following him. He thought he caught a glimpse of the statue reflected in the corner of his eye, but he knew better than to look back._

 _He eventually came across a cliff, but as he had been running very fast, he didn't have time to stop and fell over the side. He landed in a flora-filled cavern, then looked up into the ceiling. What happened next nearly made him sick; multiples of his friends and family were serenely floating downward from the sky, headfirst, having no idea of their fate when they reached the ground._

 _Link blacked out, reawakening in a small white room. Pain spread through his sides, legs, and the lower half of his face. He looked down and saw, to his utter horror, that his legs had been sewn together and his arms sewn to his sides. He tried to scream, but discovered that he mouth had been sewn shut as well. Four masked children danced around him, giggling as he struggled to free himself...struggled in vain..._

* * *

Link woke with a start. The dimly lit bedroom contrasted greatly with the room from the last scene of his dream. In a panic from the climax of the dream still fresh in his mind, he hurriedly scrambled around in the bed to make sure it hadn't come to pass. "So it _was_ just a dream..." he muttered to himself. He nervously laughed. "Of course it was. That kind of thing just doesn't happen in real life..."

He then glanced over to where he had placed the statue, only to see that it was no longer facing the wall as he had placed it; it was now staring in his direction. Link stared back, then out of annoyance he got out of bed, picked up the statue, and moved it outside his door. He went back to bed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Link came to breakfast the following morning looking as though he hadn't slept at all. If he had thought _he_ looked bad, Tony and their mother looked somehow worse. "Wow, you guys look half-dead this morning," Mrs. Mancini said with a yawn.

"So do you," Link replied through a mouthful of toast. "You gonna be okay today, Mom?

Mrs. Mancini smiled. "Oh, don't worry about me, dear," she said. "What about you two?"

"N-nothing wrong here..." Link said. He didn't want to worry his mother with the dream he had.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," Tony muttered sleepily. "Had a really bad dream..."

 _Bad dream?_ Link's notice was piqued, but their mother beat him to the punch. "What was it about?" she asked, concerned.

"...It's nothing, really," Tony replied. Link couldn't help but notice that Tony seemed to have the same reservations that he had.

"Well, if you're sure..." Mrs. Mancini then went into the other room for a bit.

With their mother now out of the room, Link turned to Tony. "So what _was_ your dream about?" Link asked.

Tony avoided his brother's gaze. "I said it's nothing, _geez!_ " he insisted.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," Link said.

Tony seemed surprised, then nervous. "...Don't tell Mom, okay?" he asked. Link nodded, and Tony sighed in relief. "Well, it started in this mirrored hallway. I look in one of the mirrors and my face changes into something really gross, and I get scared and run away. As I'm running, I keep seeing Ben out of the corner of my eye. Then I fall over a cliff and when I land, these shadowy hands come out of the ground and they grab me and drag me under. Then I'm in this white room with four masked kids and my arms and legs are sewn together. I try to scream but my mouth's sewn shut too. And then I woke up."

"Sounds pretty much like my dream," Link said, "except for the part with the hands."

"I think Mom had a similar dream," Tony said in a hushed tone. "I heard her scream when I woke up last night."

"I didn't hear anyone scream..." Link said. He was about to say something about perhaps still being asleep when it happened, but he noticed something in the hallway. Something green, with an odd emotionless grimace. "...Tony...you didn't by any chance move the statue before you came in here, did you?"

"I haven't touched it at all since we found it," Tony replied. "Why?" Link pointed behind him, and Tony turned to see the statue standing in the doorway. "W-what's that thing doing here?!" he shouted.

"I don't know," Link muttered. He stood up, took his plate, and inched toward the opposite kitchen door. "Maybe if we just ignore it, it'll go away..."

"Good plan," Tony replied.

Unfortunately, however good their idea was in theory, in practice it didn't work at all. The statue kept appearing in the oddest places that it couldn't possibly have been throughout the day, seeming to prefer blocking doorways. It even blocked the doorway leading out of the bathroom, which Link knocked over onto its side in frustration on his way out. He made his way into the living room and noticed his mother, sitting on the couch and looking as if she had been crying. "Mom? You okay?" Link asked.

Mrs. Mancini nodded lightly, but was still sniffling. "It's just like when we moved in..." she said softly, more to herself than to Link. "When he first found that horrible thing..."

"What do..." Link was confused. "What are you talking about?"

His mother shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't bring up such things—"

"No, no!" Link exclaimed. "Uh...Mom, I hate to ask, but how exactly did Dad die?"

"The coroner said he had a heart attack," his mom said. "But he never had a history of heart problems, and prior to his death he was completely healthy."

"What about the statue?" Link asked. "You said Dad found it when we first moved in, but how?"

"Well, a few days after we moved in, he went up into the attic to put some things away. And that's where he found it. Just sitting out in the open. We didn't have any need for it, so I told him to get rid of it, and he said he knew someone who would be willing to buy it. I thought that was a good idea since we were short on cash at the time."

"But it's still here, so he obviously didn't sell it..."

"The buyer was trying to figure out a fair price for it, but suddenly your father insisted that he no longer wanted to sell it." His mother sighed. "Near the end, he started talking to it, calling it Ben. And then about a week after he had started talking to it, while I was out of the house, a neighbor called to say he had been found dead."

Link just stared at his mother, letting the last part of his mother's story sink in. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the statue standing in the doorway where it hadn't been before, as if it had been eavesdropping...

* * *

"Link! Link, the next line is yours!"

"Huh...?" Link was sitting in Shauntal's English class, in a daze from another night of very little sleep due to the nightmare coming back. He then remembered where he was and shook himself awake. "Sorry!" he said quickly, moving his book closer to him and finding where he thought he was supposed to read. "' _Be you foolish, Mary Warren?_ '" he read. "' _Be you deaf? I forbid you to leave the house did I not—_ ' ...What?" Some of the other students had started to lightly chuckle.

"Link," Shauntal said with a sigh, "we're already two pages past that part."

"Oh..." Link sunk a bit in his seat, embarrassed. "S-sorry about that..." He flipped to the appropriate page and found the line he was supposed to read.

Later, after class, Shauntal stopped Link as he made his way out. "Link, are you feeling okay?" she asked. "You look like you've been to war and back."

"Uh, no, I'm fine," Link said hastily. "Doin' great over here! Hahaha!"

"Uh huh..." Shauntal wasn't fooled by Link's denial. "Well, if you need anything at all, just let me know. Okay?"

"Okay..." Link turned to leave, but then had an idea. "Hold on. Mrs. Grimsley, do you know anything about ghosts?"

"Uh, not really?" Shauntal was understandably confused about Link's request. "I mean, I know about Ghost-type _Pokémon_ , but not like actual departed spirits or anything. Grandma—er, I mean Mrs. Mort might know something, so if you have any classes with her..."

"I don't," Link sighed. "Well, thanks anyway."

Near the end of the day, Link had again falling asleep, this time with his head in his open locker. Skull Kid and Prince Boo had found him, both seeming worried. "Geez, dude looks dead," Skull Kid said. He tapped Link on the shoulder, but received no response. Turning to Prince Boo, he asked, "You wanna try wakin' him?"

"Sure," Prince Boo replied. He cleared his throat, then yelled at in a scary voice, " _ **WAKE UP, DAMN YOU!**_ "

Link let out a yell in surprise, jumping slightly and hitting his head on the roof of his locker. "Owww..." He turned and saw the people responsible for scaring him. "Oh, hey guys," he said.

"What's goin' on with you today, dude?" Skull Kid asked,

"It's not like you to fall asleep in the middle of the day," Prince Boo said.

"It's nothing, really, I'm fine," Link replied, but then he realized just who he was talking to. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Hey, Prince Boo," he said, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Prince Boo asked.

"Well, I figured since you're a ghost and all, maybe you know something about—"

"Okay, first of all, I'm _not_ a ghost," Prince Boo interrupted. "I'm a Boo."

"Boos aren't ghosts?" Link asked.

"Nope," Prince Boo replied. "In fact none of the so-called 'ghosts' in this school are even ghosts in the traditional sense. We're various types of metaphysical beings that are just as mortal as you, not departed spirits returned from the grave. I'm actually insulted that you'd be so condescending, Link. Geez..." And with that, Prince Boo floated away in a huff.

"I...I honestly never knew that..." Link muttered. He groaned, shoving his head back into his locker.

"So, what's this about ghosts?" Skull Kid asked.

"Just forget it," Link sighed, his voice echoed by the locker's metal walls. "I've wasted enough effort on this."

"Y'know, I find it kind of funny you'd ask for help from someone you rarely hang out with before asking your best friend," Skull Kid said. "I mean, from what I can tell about what you were gonna ask the Prince, you might have a bit of a ghost problem on your hands, and I _juuuust_ might know a guy who could help you out..."

"Wait, you're serious?" Link could hardly believe his luck. Two whole days of worrying, and the answer was now less than two feet in front of him. He then laughed nervously. "Man, I'm an _idiot_ ," he said. "I forgot you were into that occult-y type stuff..." At that moment, Link's phone rang, which he promptly answered. "Hello?" he asked the caller.

" _Link, you haven't left school yet, have you?_ " his mother's voice asked from the other end.

"No, why?"

" _There's been some sort of incident at the house. I think a pipe main broke or something, all I know is there's water all over the floor. Thank god I had today off, or I would've never noticed until I got home._ "

"What?" Link asked, confused.

" _As far as I know, there's no water on the second floor, so your room should still be dry,_ " his mom explained. " _I managed to get everything electronic or paper-based off the floor before most of the water got in. I called a plumber, I think the name was Segali, but the guy who came said he couldn't even get to the pipes because that statue had gotten stuck in the way somehow..._ "

"You sure?"

" _Yeah, that's what he said anyway. Either way, I've already picked up Tony and we're in a hotel room together. I'll get the address from the front desk and call you back with it, okay?_ "

"Sure," Link said. He was sure that this had something to do with Ben, especially if the statue had wedged itself in between pipes. "I'm gonna be doing something with a friend for a while, anyway. Love you, bye." He hung up, then turned to Skull Kid. "All right, then, let's get going," Link said.

"I'll tell you how to get there on the way," Skull Kid said. The two then ran off towards the exit, nearly knocking over two seniors, Little Mac and Marth.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Little Mac shouted at the two.

"Sorry!" Link called back as they left.

Marth gave the two runners an odd look. "Wonder what's gotten into them," he muttered to himself.

* * *

Link and Skull Kid had eventually arrived at the place Skull Kid had described; an odd, dingy-looking shop. "You sure this is the place?" Link asked, his voice lightly muffled by his motorcycle helmet.

"Been here enough to have it burned into my memory, so I'm absolutely sure," Skull Kid replied. "Not in a bad way, of course."

The two dismounted Epona, placing their helmets into the storage compartment, and went into the shop. The shop contained numerous odd artifacts and other random things, including a myriad of masks lining the walls. Link was taking the time to examine a shimmering star-shaped crystal that was the size of his hand when a red-haired man dressed in purple seemed to appear out of nowhere right beside him, wearing a broad grin on his face. Link jumped in surprise, shouting. "Ah, my apologies!" the man said. "I didn't intend to startle you."

"N-no, it's okay," Link said. "I've been kinda jumpy lately, anyway,"

"So yeah, this is the guy I told you about, Link," Skull Kid said.

The red-haired man bowed. "Yes, welcome to the Happy Mask and Curios Shop," he said proudly. "Pardon my prying, but did your friend say your name is Link? Your last name wouldn't happen to be Mancini, would it?"

"Yeah, that's right," Link said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

"I once had the pleasure of dealing with a man named Tim Mancini," the salesman said. "He would always talk about his two sons Link and Tony. That was about ten or eleven years ago, and you look about the right age to be the same Link." He sighed. "Shame what happened to him, though. My deepest condolences."

"It's fine," Link said. "It was a long time ago." Link was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"So, what brings you to my shop today?" the salesman asked.

"Well, Rigby—"

"SKULL KID."

"... _Skull Kid_ told me you knew stuff about ghosts," Link said. "Well I think there's a ghost in my house. My little brother and I found a weird statue in the attic—"

"Say no more," the salesman interrupted. His eyes were wide open now, and Link could see for the first time that the man's eyes were a deep red. "This statue, would it happen to call itself Ben?"

"Yeah!" Link exclaimed. "How did you know—" It was then that Link put all the pieces together. "You were the buyer, weren't you? You're the guy who my dad was gonna sell the statue to!"

"Correct!" the salesman said, smiling broadly again. "Your father had brought the statue into my shop intending to sell it. It looked to be an Ikana artifact, and I usually kept things being sold for a bit while I figured out pricing, but I let him take it home with him until I had the price. I didn't have internet at the time, so it took me a few days to figure out a fair price, and when I had almost figured it out, he no longer wished to sell the statue, claiming a spirit inside it named Ben wanted his company."

"Do you know anything about Ben?" Link asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," the salesman replied somberly. "It's an evil entity that tends to pose as the spirit of a drowned boy."

"That explains the pipe breaking, somewhat," Link said to himself.

"I've rid three houses of Ben's presence by now, each time using a different method of exorcism," the salesman explained. "It's a tough cookie, this one. I should've intervened as soon as I heard your father mention its name. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20."

This was a lot to take in, but Link was determined to get Ben out of his house. "So, can you get rid of it now?" he asked.

"Most likely," the salesman replied. "I'll have to bring out the big guns this time, though. Just let me know the address and I'll meet you there."

* * *

As Link and Skull Kid arrived at Link's house, they noticed that the salesman was already there, holding something reflective and yellow in his hands. "How'd he get here before us?" Link asked. "We left first, didn't we?"

"Dunno," Skull Kid said. "Dude has a way of getting around fast."

Link approached the salesman, while Skull Kid waited near Epona because he didn't want to involved in anything dangerous. "So you sure you can take care of this?" Link asked the salesman.

"Yes, I believe so," the salesman said. He revealed the object he had been holding; a miniature statue of three golden women, the golden goddesses of Hylian lore, holding a replica of the Triforce above them. "Normally for a full exorcism you're supposed to use an artifact relating to where the entity originated, but Terminian artifacts are notoriously bad for the job. I'm confident a Hylian artifact will be a suitable substitute."

"Let's do this, then," Link said. They entered the house, stepping onto the soaked carpet. A faint laugh was heard through the house. Link turned, only to see the Ben statue beside him where it hadn't been before.

"Hello there, Ben," the salesman said calmly. "Long time, no see." The statue's face seemed to briefly flash to an expression of anger, then a loud scream rang out throughout the entire house, rippling the pools of water on the floor. Link covered his ears in pain from the sheer volume, the salesman putting his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, it can't hurt you while I'm here."

The salesman held the statue of the golden goddesses in front of him. "You know what this is, don't you?" the salesman asked loudly. Another scream sounded, louder and slightly panicked this time. "Yes, that's right!" the salesman exclaimed in triumph. "You've terrorized your last family, Ben!" He lightly chuckled. "Goodbye, Ben."

With those final words, the golden goddesses' eyes began to glow, and shapes in light etched themselves upon the pieces of the Triforce aloft in their hands. Another loud scream (possibly from Ben itself?) pierced the air, then odd purple smoke poured from the eyes of the statue. The purple smoke swirled above the statue, being pulled toward the goddesses. With a final scream, the smoke shot toward the Triforce, filtering through the empty space in the Triforce's three pieces, turning into light and disappearing on its way out.

When all the purple smoke had left, the house felt...somehow more peaceful, like a heavy fog had been lifted. Looking at the Ben statue, Link noticed it no longer felt malevolent. It had no feeling to it at all. The salesman placed the statue of the golden goddesses onto the table, the formerly glowing parts returned to their former golden sheen. "Well, that takes care of that," the salesman said. He turned to Link and bowed lightly. "I'll be leaving now," he said. "Hopefully if we meet again, it will be under much more pleasant circumstances."

"Th...thank you," Link said, still stunned from what he had seen. He dug in his pockets, looking for his wallet. "Um...how much should I..."

"Oh, no, no payment necessary!" the salesman exclaimed. He glanced over at the statue that formerly held Ben. "Actually, _I'm_ the one who should be paying _you_. That statue is still a valuable piece of Ikana history, and I daresay you wouldn't want to keep the statue, would you?"

"Uh, no, but..."

The salesman handed him a check that had been previously filled out with the amount of 10,000 Rupees. "Here, I believe this is a fair price," he said. "I'll even throw in that statue of the golden goddesses if you'd like."

"Thanks..."

The salesman picked up the Ikana statue and left. Link also left the house, though only went as far as his front yard. He saw Skull Kid still waiting near Epona, who turned upon hearing him approach. "It's all taken care of, then?" Skull Kid asked. "I saw some freaky lights coming from the windows..."

"Yeah, it's done," Link said. He took out his cellphone and called his mother. "Hey, Mom. I'll be over to the hotel soon. Try calling the plumber again tomorrow, I think he'll be able to get to the pipes now. ... Yeah, the statue's gone, I got someone to get rid of it for us. ... Okay, love you too. See you later, then." He hung up, then hopped onto Epona. Skull Kid jumped on behind him and they left for the night.


	12. Twilit Affection

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 12: Twilit Affection  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on August 3, 2013.)_ _ **  
**_

Thursday. Not quite Friday in the eyes of the student, where every second counts down to two whole days of freedom. Just a typical Thursday morning in Mr. Jones' English class. While some students, like Paula, were able to keep their full attention in class, others like Zant drifted in and out of the studious mindset.

As the day's lecture went on, Zant's gaze seemed to be fixated on the back of Ado's head, or at least something only he could see that was in about the same place as Ado's head. He reached out to it in a daze, his longer-than-average arm leading his fingers right into Ado's hair.

"Hey, cut that out," Ado whispered, annoyed.

"...eh?"

Zant awoke from his daze just as Jones turned around to see his outstretched hand. "Ah, Zant," Jones said, pointing at the young Twili. "Care to tell the class the three types of persuasion?"

"I..." Zant glanced around nervously. "I wasn't raising my hand to talk, sir..."

"That's all right, give it a shot anyway," Jones said. "Never any harm in guessing."

"Uh...uh..." Zant stuttered, as if waiting for someone to throw him a helpline. He then seemed to receive a jolt of inspiration, sat up straight and calmly stated his answer. "The three types of persuasion are _ethos_ , _pathos_ , and _logos_."

Jones smiled. "Absolutely correct," he said proudly. He turned around, writing the three words on the chalkboard with room to write explanations. "Now the word ' _ethos_ ' refers to an argument that appeals to one's ethics, or their sense of right or wrong," Jones explained, writing down this point. "' _Logos_ ' appeals to logic and intellect, using facts that supports one's argument. And ' _pathos_ ' appeals to one's pathological senses or emotions, trying to make them feel good about your position or bad about the opposition." After writing all this down, Jones attempted to draw three small blobby, twin-tailed humanoid creatures near each point, though the drawings were somewhat crude. "For those of you familiar with Pokémon, I suppose you could associate each point with the Sinnoh lake spirits Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, respectfully. Erm, ignore the shoddiness of the drawings, please..."

As Paula took notes, she could make out the whispers of the other students. "Lucky guy," Diddy whispered. "I bet Paula told him with her mind powers or something."

"Isn't that cheating, though?" Paraplonk muttered from nearby.

"I dunno. I mean, it's not like the teachers can really catch it," Adeleine whispered. "I'd share the answers with my friends if I could get away with it."

While she didn't say anything, these comments began to make Paula feel somewhat upset. They were not only falsehoods, they were also rude and did not accurately reflect her moral compass. Sure she would sometimes send psychic messages to others during class, but she would never use her powers to help others cheat, or even to cheat herself.

Soon enough, class was over and everyone started to head off to their next class. As Paula packed away her things, Zant approached her, wearing an expression of...sympathy? Apology, maybe? It was kind of hard to tell with him. "I heard the others saying things about you earlier," Zant said.

"Yeah, they always say stuff like that," Paula sighed. "One of the few disadvantages of being a PSI-user..."

"You didn't say anything, though, out loud or otherwise," Zant reminded her.

"I know," Paula said.

"Fluffy told me."

Paula sighed. "Fluffy, of course." The vague image of a bipedal humanoid panda dressed in a butler's uniform resurfaced in her memory. When Zant had first mentioned the unseen entity, Paula had used her PSI to see "Fluffy" through Zant's thoughts to avoid upsetting him. "That guy never lets you down, huh?" she chuckled off-handedly.

"Yeah, he's pretty great," Zant replied. "Uh, want I should tell them the truth?"

"No, that's fine," Paula said. "I'm used to it by now." _That, and no one would believe a magical fire-breathing panda whispering in one's ear over the more simple explanation of a proven PSI user giving psychic messages..._

"Oh, all right."

"Well, see you later, then."

"Okay. See ya." The two started to head their separate ways, but soon Zant turned back toward Paula. "Paula, wait!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Paula asked, stopping briefly.

"Uh...wanna maybe...hang out Saturday?" Zant asked, his eyes at his feet as if it embarrassed him to ask.

"Oh, I kind of already made plans with Kirby," Paula said. "But I'm sure he wouldn't mind another person coming along! So why not?"

"Y...you mean it?!" Zant half-squealed. Paula nodded, and was promptly rewarded with an extremely tight hug that nearly lifted her off the ground. "Thank you, thank you so much!" He let go of Paula and rushed on to his next class. Paula waved as he left, not noticing Kirby happening to walk up behind her.

"Ah, you two are so cute together!" Kirby exclaimed, causing Paula to squeal and jump in surprise.

"H-how long have you been there?!" Paula asked, flustered.

"Long enough," Kirby said with a smile. "And yeah, I'm cool with him coming along. I was thinking of asking him anyway, to be honest."

"Oh, that's good then," Paula said. "Well, guess we should get going."

"Yeah."

* * *

That Saturday morning, Paula's mother had driven her to the address Zant had given her the day before. His house was in a very nice-looking neighborhood and, like the houses nearby, was painted in a cheery tint of yellow. "Are you sure this is the place?" Paula's mom asked as she parked the car.

"Yes, Mom, this is where he said," Paula replied. "Why, what were you expecting?"

Paula's mom shrugged. "I dunno, something a little more...gloomy-looking, I guess."

"Mooom!" Paula groaned. "They're _Twili_ , not _vampires!_ God!"

Leaving her embarrassed mother with the car, Paula made her way to the door and lightly knocked. An older Twili man answered the door. "Oh, you must be Paula," the man, apparently Mr. Nocturna, said. "Here to pick up Zant, I take it?"

"Yep," Paula replied. She glanced around behind Mr. Nocturna. "Um, where is he?"

"In the shower, last I checked," Mr. Nocturna said. Sensing the awkwardness of standing at the doorway to wait, he added, "Would you like to come in and wait for him?"

"Okay, I guess," Paula said. After quickly returning to the car to let her mom know, she followed Mr. Nocturna into the house.

Despite all the sunlight outside and friendly exterior, the house was incredibly dim yet still fairly inviting, though a lot of the decorations possessed an eerie green luminescence. "Sorry for the poor lighting," Mr. Nocturna said. "Twili are more sensitive to sunlight than most species as you've probably noticed with Zant, so we had to install strong UV filters on all the windows."

"Oh, it's fine, really," Paula insisted, silently thankful for the lack of clutter on the floor to potentially trip over. "There's really no need to apologize. This is your house, you can light it however you want."

Mr. Nocturna and Paula sat down in the living room across from one another. "You know, I'm glad I got to meet you properly before Zant left," Mr. Nocturna said happily. "He talks about you nearly all the time. He's had some...issues throughout his life, and since his transfer to Nintendo High a lot of them have lessened somewhat. Being with you seems to have some sort of therapeutic effect on him." He smiled warmly.

"Well, that's good," Paula said. She looked around. "Um, I've actually been curious to meet Mrs. Nocturna as well, that is if she's here. Zant always speaks very highly of the both of you."

Mr. Nocturna let out a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid...that won't be possible," he said with some obvious difficulty.

"Oh? Why not?" Paula asked. Then, as if she felt she was overstepping her bounds, she added, "Sorry, it's not my business to pry."

"No, it's all right," Mr. Nocturna said. He sighed, apparently hesitant to respond. "My wife, Seline..." he said with difficulty, "she and Zant were in a car accident when he was only three. He thankfully escaped with minor injuries, but regrettably Seline...passed away from her injuries."

Paula was shocked. "B-but he talks about her as if—"

"As if she's still alive, yes." Mr. Nocturna sighed yet again, rubbing his eyes. "He always had some slight mental...irregularities that we thought would straighten themselves out as he grew older, but shortly after Seline's death they actually began to worsen. He couldn't quite come to terms with losing her quite like Midna and I did, possibly partly due to being in the same accident, so he began to act as though she were still around. I initially wanted to believe anything otherwise, even going so far as to contact a psychic to see if he were actually seeing her departed spirit, but the psychic didn't detect any spirits so I had no choice but to accept that my son was delusional. I'm not sure if he still believes this now or merely continues the behavior out of habit, but I've tried to avoid bringing the issue to light in case it might upset him."

"I'm so sorry..." Paula said. "I...I honestly had no idea..."

"No reason for you to apologize," Mr. Nocturna assured her.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Paula turned to see Zant, who noticed her and stopped in his tracks. "Paula!" he exclaimed. He ran towards her, leaped over the couch she was sitting on, and gave her a hug. "We ready to go, then?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so," Paula said. The revelation still heavy in the air, she turned to Mr. Nocturna. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Nocturna," she said politely.

"Likewise." The two shook hands, then Paula and Zant made their way out the door. As they left, Zant pulled the hood of his outer jacket over his head and put on a dorky pair of sunglasses, assumingly for the same reason as the Nocturnas' house being relatively dark.

The two of them entered the car, both sitting in the back. Paula's mother turned around to face Zant, smiling warmly. "So you're this Zant I keep hearing about?" she asked.

"Yeah," Zant replied.

"Rosie Polestar, Paula's mother. Nice to meet you," she said, turning back around to start the car. She pulled out of the street, glancing behind her occasionally to both check for oncoming vehicles and to keep up some conversation. "You two have fun while you're at the mall, but be sure to stay safe," she reminded them. "And I don't want you getting up to anything weird, okay?"

" _Moooom!_ " Paula half-shouted, blushing at the implication at what her mom had suggested. "You act like we're dating! Besides, we're going to a public place and meeting with another friend!"

Mrs. Polestar chuckled. "I'm just teasing you, dear," she said mirthfully.

* * *

Soon enough, they had arrived at the Starlight Mall. Mrs. Polestar dropped Zant and Paula off near the front door, where Kirby was eagerly waiting for them. As the three friends entered the mall, Zant removed his glasses and outer hood. A middle-aged woman with pointed ears passing by saw Zant; immediately, she pulled her son closer to her and began to walk a little faster, something only Paula seemed to notice. "Sooo...what do we actually do while we're here?" Zant asked. "I mean, I don't really get out much except for school, so..."

"I...never actually thought about that," Paula admitted. "Usually when I'm here I just walk around and look at stuff."

"This mall _does_ have some of the best pretzel stores around, and the rest of the food court in general is pretty awesome," Kirby said, the slightest bit of drool seeming to drip from his mouth as he did.

"Just like you to think about food first," Paula laughed. She thought for a bit, then started to come up with some ideas. "Well, there's a pet store up on the second floor, we can go up there and look at all the animals. And nearby is a cool sweet shop that also has a bunch of goofy toys and glasses, that's really fun."

"There's that one electronics store that has all the cool anime merch," Kirby added, "but I can't remember if that's on the first or second floor..."

"Oh, and Friend Factory's right over there!" Paula exclaimed. She pointed over to a doorway with a friendly-looking sign decorated with images of buttons, spools of thread, and happy stuffed animal characters.

"'Friend Factory'?" Zant asked. "I've heard of that, but I never quite got the idea..."

"Well, it's mainly for little kids," Paula admitted, "but it's this store where you go pick out an animal toy design and you stuff it and pick out clothes for it, it's really cute!"

"Oh, well, why don't we go there?" Zant asked.

"Okay!" Paula said. "It's kind of expensive, though, but I think I might have enough money to get one—"

"I'll help pay if you don't."

"Really?" Paula blushed. "Th-thanks a bunch..."

Kirby chuckled. "Well, you kids have fun with those teddy bears and such," he said slyly, starting to wander off. "I'm gonna go get me a popcorn bag."

"'Kids'? We're the same age..." Paula sighed.

Paula and Zant made their way into the Friend Factory. Zant noticed Midna, apparently working there judging by the apron and nametag she was wearing, and waved at her. She sighed, not wanting to be bothered by her brother on the job; still, upon realizing that the two had come to actually shop, she eased up, helping them pick out their animals and stuff them.

About half an hour later, the two left the Friend Factory, each holding an animal that was dressed similarly to the other. They met up with Kirby shortly thereafter, who had purchased a bag of gourmet popcorn and two pretzels. "Aww, how cute," Kirby said, trying to hide a slight laugh. "You guys got matching dolls."

"Would you believe that it was originally unintentional?" Paula asked with a nervous chuckle.

Zant held up the bear he had purchased and smiled. "She has your eyes," he joked, receiving another embarrassed laugh from Paula.

Paula, Zant, and Kirby continued to explore the mall. They visited the pet store and played with the puppies and kittens that had been brought over from a nearby animal shelter. They next made a stop at the candy shop and admired the multicolored assortment of jelly beans and MnMs that customers could choose from and bag for themselves, as well as the many other sweets available. In the electronic store, Zant and Kirby had some fun with a mock battle using the novelty foam weapons the employees had set out to attract sales. Everything seemed to go quite well, at least until lunchtime.

The three each ordered their lunch at the teriyaki place per Kirby's suggestion (who predictably ended up getting the double portion), and went to sit down at an empty table. The table happened to be near an older gentleman with pointed ears, who kept glancing in their direction. He made an odd hand signal that looked somewhat like the Triforce, then in a low mutter that seemed to be intentionally loud enough for the three to hear, he said, "Can't believe what the world's coming to when them shadow folk are allowed to walk among normal people..." The contempt in the old man's comment couldn't have made his meaning any more clear.

"'Shadow folk'..." Zant sulked in his seat. "He's talking about me, isn't he..."

Kirby glared at the old man. "I know you're supposed to respect your elders, but it's kind of hard when they say stuff like that in public," he said angrily.

"Just ignore him," Paula muttered. Unfortunately, this would prove difficult as the old man turned toward them and began talking to Paula.

"You seem like a sweet young lady," the old man said. "What would a nice girl like you be doing with someone like him?" He pointed at Zant as he said this.

Paula kept her gaze away from the old man. "Sir, I don't know you," she said coldly. "I don't believe it's any of your business who my friends are."

"I'm just concerned, is all," the old man continued. "Good kids these days are always falling in with the wrong crowd—"

At this point, Paula angrily shot up from her seat. "Look, we're not doing anything wrong, so just leave us alone!" she shouted.

Paula's shout was enough to draw a mall security officer over to their table. "Excuse me," the officer said, approaching them. "Is there a problem here?"

The old man, obviously uncomfortable being put on the spot, stammered and didn't say much. Paula, however, had no such reservations. "This guy just started harassing us for no reason!" she exclaimed.

The officer glanced at the old man, then turned to Zant. "Young man," he said calmly to Zant, "did that man say anything particularly upsetting to you?"

"Eh..." Zant couldn't look the officer in the eye. "I-it's because he's old..." he murmured to himself. "He was raised different..."

"He said something about 'shadow folk'," Paula said. "Then he started talking to me, insisting that my friend was a bad influence or something..."

"Is that so?" the officer asked. He then turned to the old man. "Sir, you _are_ aware that it's against Starlight Mall's code of conduct to harass other shoppers, especially in a discriminatory manner?"

"I was just trying to look out for the young lady's best interests—" the old man began, but the officer cut him off.

"Unless you're her grandfather, that isn't your call to make," the officer said sternly. "I'll let you off with a warning this time. If I catch you harassing anyone else, I'll have to ask you to leave the premises."

The old man muttered something under his breath, then took the remaining portion of his meal and left on his own. With the issue over, the officer sighed and adjusted his hat, revealing that he also had pointed ears like the old man. "I can't stand it when other Hylians cling to the old stories as an excuse to hate..." he said to himself. Turning to the three kids, he waved and said, "Well, take care," before heading back on patrol.

* * *

Soon enough, the three had their fill of the mall for the day and it was time to go home. They sat in the entranceway near the fountain as Zant and Paula waited for Mrs. Polestar to arrive, with Kirby hanging around to see them off before he himself headed home. "I really had fun with you guys today," Zant said.

"Even with that old jerk bothering us?" Paula asked.

"Yeah." Zant hugged his bear tightly. "I always thought the reason Midna always complained about her job was because it was at a childish, cutesy place and that's not her thing. She probably has to deal with stuff like that every time she's at work, and I never noticed because I'm only ever at school or at home..." He sighed. "I bet Dad has to deal with it every day as well."

"Don't worry about it, man," Kirby said, scarfing down his second pretzel. "Some people are just idiots."

"Yeah," Zant said, but then smiled. "At least I have you guys as friends."

"Yeah, friends..." Paula said. She leaned up against Zant, blushing slightly. "Maybe, in one case...a little more than friends?"

Zant glanced over at Paula, unsure what to do. "Um...I..." He then lightly put his arm around Paula. "Sure. More than friends sounds great."

The moment could've lasted forever, but it seemed all too soon that Paula's phone went off. She checked it, seeing a text from her mother. "Mom's outside," she told Zant. "We should get going." She turned to Kirby, who had a really smug grin on his face as if he had predicted the whole turn of events. "See you Monday, Kirby."

"See you guys," Kirby replied with a smile.

The drive back was fairly quiet. They soon returned to Zant's house, dropped him off and left. Soon enough after leaving, Paula spoke up. "...Hey, Mom?" Paula asked.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Polestar said, though her tone suggested she knew what Paula was about to say.

"Remember how I said Zant wasn't my boyfriend?"

"Yeah, what about that?"

Paula hugged her monkey close, closed her eyes, and smiled. "I think...that might've changed today."


	13. Brothers

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 13: Brothers  
**_ _(Originally posted on deviantART on February 143, 2014.)_ _ **  
**_

The day before a holiday break always makes people antsy, even if it's a short break like Thanksgiving. The students and staff of Nintendo High were starting to wrap up the last class of the day. "...and as a reminder to everyone, we'll continue covering ' _The_ _Odyssey_ ' next week," Palutena said to her students as the lesson died down. "Take care not to let all that food make you forget what we've done so far, all right? Well, see you all on Monday!" As if with perfect timing, the bell rang and the students began to file out of the room.

"Man, glad that's over with," a Shy Guy simply named Guy muttered as he left the room. "I thought I was gonna totally space out for a second."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tom Nook, who was walking out with Guy, added. "Palutena's cool and all, but there's just something about break times that makes any class seem like it'll go on forever. And store duty was _hell_ today, too..." He sighed, then realized something. "Oh crap. I just remembered that my parents want me on Black Friday staff. Aw, god..." It was fairly well-known that, aside from Tom being the manager of the student supply store as part of his business class, the Nook family owned a local department store called Nookingtons.

"I feel bad for that new girl, though," Guy said. "It's already gotta suck being plopped into a brand new school in a totally different country right before an extended weekend like Thanksgiving, but on top of that she can't even speak _and_ she gets stuck with an interpreter with that heavy French accent?! That's gotta make things ten times more difficult."

"'Tell me about it'," a voice said from behind them. Guy and Tom turned around to see Amako, the new girl, standing there with Waka, her sign language interpreter. "That is what Amako wishes to say," Waka told them. "We couldn't help but overhear. It's nice to know her new classmates are sympathetic." Amako signed something, then smiled. "She says, 'It is very difficult, but I'm used to it and I can manage just fine.'"

Just then, Pit came running down the hallway. "'Scuse me, coming through!" he exclaimed as he ran past the four of them, nearly knocking Tom over.

"Oh sure, plow right into the raccoon, go ahead!" Tom shouted.

"Sorry about that, Tom," Pit said with a nervous chuckle. He dashed into the nearly empty classroom regardless.

"Full of energy, that one," Waka laughed. "Reminds me of someone else I know." He glanced towards Amako with a grin, the young lady giving him a slightly agitated glare.

Inside the classroom, Palutena was cleaning up some of the notes still on her desk. "Lady Palutena!" Pit exclaimed.

"Ah, Pit," Palutena said happily. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," Pit replied. "'Pittoo' said he had some extra stuff to take care of, so he's gonna meet us out front." He was, of course, referring to his brother Derek, a recent transfer from Torrent High who the other students had taken to calling "Dark Pit" or "Pittoo" due to their relatively similar appearance, nicknames that he and their mutual guardian Palutena were doing everything they could to make stick. Speaking of, Pit couldn't help but notice that Palutena seemed a bit flustered. "Something wrong?" he asked.

" _Waka_ ," she sighed. "He means well, but today he's started trying to flirt with me, just like with the other female teachers. If only they could've gotten someone else to be Amako's interpreter, or I weren't so stubborn about the 'no tablets in class' rule..."

"Um...okay then..." With that, they made their way out of the classroom.

Meanwhile, Officer Pliskin was busy trying to direct the various students making their way out of the doors. He almost didn't notice a certain forest fairy land on his shoulder. "Oh, Pliskin," Navi said, in a slightly taunting manner. "You haven't by chance forgotten the winner of the contest last month, have you?"

"No, of course I haven't," Officer Pliskin sighed.

"Sooo, you know what I'm here for, riiight?" Navi giggled.

Pliskin made an odd expression of annoyance. "I'm kind of busy right now," he reminded her.

"I know," Navi said. "I can wait."

Pliskin sighed, then returned to his duty of directing foot traffic. "Keep moving, everyone! No loitering!" he told the crowd of students. He noticed Derek waiting alongside the wall with his guitar case. "Hey, I said no loitering!"

"I'm not _loitering_ , I'm waiting for someone," Derek insisted.

"Oh right, you're one of Palutena's kids," Pliskin muttered. "Well, you can wait outside just as easily as you can inside, can't you?"

Derek groaned. "Fine," he said, picking up his guitar case and heading out the door.

"That was kinda harsh, wasn't it?" Navi asked, much to Pliskin's chagrin.

* * *

Later that day, Officer Pliskin was accompanying Navi in her Junes shopping trip as promised. "Shopping for a few fairies shouldn't be too difficult," Pliskin muttered to himself.

"Actually, there's something I forgot to mention," Navi said.

Pliskin sighed. "Of _course_."

"I wanna have a BIIIIG party with all my friends and family this Thanksgiving!" Navi exclaimed. "But most of 'em are already paired up with a Kokiri child, so we'd have to take that into consideration as well..."

"So wait..." Pliskin said, realizing what this meant. "Are we feeding the whole goddamn Kokiri Forest or something?!"

Navi nodded sheepishly. "That's the general idea."

"What have I gotten myself into..."

Thankfully, it didn't take too long until the two shoppers were nearly complete. Pliskin was pushing a cart full of what seemed like enough food to feed a small army, and getting fed up with the constantly repeating Junes theme song playing over the speakers with the occasional interruption for weekend deals. " _Don't forget to pick up a turkey for Thanksgiving! Black Friday doorbuster deals start this Friday at 1 am!_ " the overhead speaker chirped. " _Every-day's great at your Ju-nes!_ "

Pliskin groaned. "More like 'every day's _hell_ at your Junes'..."

" _Finally_ someone else gets it!" a passing Waluigi exclaimed.

The two shoppers made their way to the checkout and ended up running into Principal Masterson. "Ah, evening, you two!" Masterson said happily. "Out doing some shopping, I take it?"

"No, we're just going to walk out with all this food and not pay for it," Pliskin remarked.

"We are?!" Navi exclaimed, then realized Pliskin giving her an odd glance. "Oh, right, sarcasm. Hehe..."

"So, what're you gonna be up to this weekend?" Pliskin asked the principal. "Same old thing?"

"Actually, I've got plans to meet up with old family for once," Masterson replied. "I recently found out my little brother's been in town for the past few weeks. It's been years since I've heard from him, and I was hoping we could get together and reconnect..."

"Is that so..." Pliskin said. "Well, good luck with that, I suppose."

"Yeah, good luck!" Navi cheerily added.

* * *

The next day was, for those lucky enough to have the day off, the perfect day for people to finalize their Thanksgiving plans. It was also the perfect time for Pit to try something out that he had been meaning to get around to for quite some time. He had actually been making some decent progress with it, and had been spending so much time on it that he never noticed Derek standing by the door. "When are you gonna finish up in there?" Derek asked, finally making his presence known and startling the white-winged brother. "I have things I need to work on."

"I dunno, soon, I guess," Pit replied off-handedly. "Can't you just use your own computer?

"You know that thing's a piece of crap," Derek said. "C'mon, quit hogging the good computer."

"Okay, okay," Pit sighed. "I'll try to wrap this up as quick as possible and you'll get dibs when I'm done."

Derek sighed. "Fine." He then left the room, though as he had nothing better to do, he decided to just wait outside the door.

"Y'know, waiting around right there's probably gonna make me want to stay on longer just to bug you," Pit taunted.

"Yeah, yeah, I get the hint."

Derek left and made his way to the kitchen. Palutena was sitting at the table with a wooden box full of cards, flipping through the cards within. She noticed Derek and glanced up, smiling. "What's up, Pittoo?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

"Not much, and _please_ don't call me that," Derek grumbled. He then noticed the box Palutena was searching through and the label that was on said box: " _Recipes_ ". "...What are you doing?" he asked, his expression suddenly turning to worry.

"Looking for recipes, of course," Palutena replied. "I'm considering trying to cook a proper Thanksgiving meal tomorrow."

"...You remember what happened _last_ time you tried to do any major cooking, right?" Derek asked.

Palutena chuckled. "I'm sure it'll turn out fine this time!" she insisted.

Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, the power of the house briefly blinked on and off. Pit's shout from the other room apparently meant that whatever he had been working on had been lost due to the brownout. "Yeah, I'd consider that a bad omen," Derek said once they were pretty sure the series of brownouts had stopped.

"You may be right," Palutena laughed nervously. "I guess we can always order takeout like last year."

"Sounds like a _much_ better idea," Derek said. He then made his way back to the computer room, where Pit was staring at the blank screen of the computer in disbelief. "Hey, I'm cashing in my dibs now," Derek insisted, elbowing his brother out of his stupor.

"Wh-what, no!" Pit shouted. "I didn't log off, that doesn't count!"

"The computer'll say otherwise, now off."

Pit groaned, getting out of the chair. "But I had so many questions..." he grumbled.

"What're you mumbling about?" Derek asked.

"You wouldn't get it..." Pit sighed as he left.

Derek merely shrugged. "Whatever."

* * *

Not many people intend on spending their Thanksgiving in a somewhat crowded café, but that was where Masterson had agreed to meet his brother. He was beginning to wonder if his brother would ever show up when the door of the café dramatically opened. In walked a man with curly white hair, styled so that only his left eye was readily visible, wearing a long white coat with the sleeves removed and otherwise largely black and white attire. On his left hand was a fingerless white glove similar to the glove that Masterson wore on his right. "Henry!" Masterson exclaimed, approaching the man. "It's been so long!"

"Hello, brother," the man greeted him.

Masterson and Henry shook hands, then Masterson pulled his brother into a rather awkward hug. "Welcome back, Henry," Masterson said. "How many years has it been since you left?"

"About ten, I'd say," Henry replied. "You don't seem to have changed much in that time, though."

"Whereas you seem to have changed quite a bit, at least in your clothing choices," Masterson said with a light chuckle. "Trying to make yourself look like one of the 'cool kids', are you?"

"A man can dress how he wants, Hans," Henry said. "That's not the only thing I've decided to change, by the way. To be perfectly honest, I don't much care for being called 'Henry' anymore. Nowadays, I go by a new name: 'Zycra'."

"Oh, is that so?" Masterson said, confused. "Well, I'll try my best to remember that, though I apologize in advance if I slip up now and again." Zycra said nothing, merely giving a light nod, so Masterson continued. "So...what have you been up to since you've been gone?"

"Nothing much," Zycra replied. "Mostly just travelling, though to be fair it probably counts more as drifting." He sighed. "Got into a few fights here and there, as well."

"To be honest, I'm not surprised," Masterson chuckled. "You were quite the troublemaker when we were kids."

"Well, now I'm starting to actually pay the price for it," Zycra sighed. He moved his hair out of the way of his right eye to reveal a white medical eyepatch. "Gotta wear this for a while. At least it's white, so it hides well."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you've started wearing your hair like that," Masterson commented. "I'd been meaning to say something about that, since I'd read something about that sort of hairstyle giving kids lazy eye...but I guess that wouldn't matter if you have to cover the eye for medical reasons anyway, right?"

Zycra nodded. Suddenly, he jumped out of his seat as if he had noticed or suddenly remembered something. "Sorry to cut this meeting short, brother," he said sharply. "I have something I must attend to.

"Ah, what a shame," Masterson said. "And on Thanksgiving, too. Are you going to be in town for much longer?"

"Yeah, I'll be around for a while," Zycra replied.

"Well, if you need somewhere to stay—"

"I have a place, actually," Zycra insisted. "Temporary, but it's good enough for now."

"Even so, feel free to come visit anytime," Masterson said. He quickly wrote his home address on a napkin and handed it to his brother. "I changed houses about five years ago, that's where I am now."

"Okay," Zycra said, taking the napkin. "See you around, brother."

With that, Zycra left the café, though a bit quicker than necessary. Somewhat suspicious, Masterson left the café after him, taking care not to be noticed. He followed Zycra a while, then saw him a few blocks away. He seemed to be talking into a cell phone...only there was no cell phone in his hand. The "phone" was apparently a ruse, an excuse to talk to himself. Masterson couldn't make out any words, but by his body language he could tell Zycra was angry about something.

"Looks like my little brother's not as together as he seemed..." Masterson said to himself. "I hope he's not actually losing it..."


	14. Light Fight

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 14: Light Fight**  
(Originally posted on deviantART on August 18, 2014)_

Most people in the northern hemisphere associate the beginning of December with chilly weather, as well as crunch time for winter holiday preparation. In Miyamotopolis, due to its sunny southern California locale, only the latter of those is present. Throughout the halls of Nintendo High, R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch were hanging posters for a contest that was going on throughout the city; a lights and display contest, of which could feature anything as long as it was winter-themed. The two had already placed the posters throughout nearly all the halls, though R.O.B. was being very contrary about the matter.

"I don't get why we have to post these everywhere," R.O.B. grumbled, his annoyance more evident in his voice than his nearly featureless face. "The only people who can actually do this thing are homeowners, so you'd think it make more sense just to hand these out in the lounge." Game & Watch responded in an odd series of beeping, which R.O.B. seemed to understand. "I mean, sure, the students could tell their parents about it through seeing the posters," R.O.B. continued, "but are teenagers who more than likely don't care _really_ the best way to communicate big contests to the masses? It'd honestly be more efficient to air a TV commercial or something..."

As the two continued to hang up posters, Professor E. Gadd approached them. "So, how are those posters coming along, you two?" he asked cheerfully.

"They're coming along good, Dad," R.O.B. replied. R.O.B. often liked to refer to the professor—his creator—as "Dad" or "Father", something E. Gadd didn't mind in the slightest and even seemed to welcome. "Still don't see the point of 'em, of course."

E. Gadd chuckled. "Well, you know how Masterson is about Christmas!" he said jovially.

R.O.B. sighed. "Well, guess we'd better get these done," he muttered. He turned to Game & Watch. "C'mon, Beeps McGee." Game & Watch responded with his typical beeping, and the two of them moved on to the next hallway. Soon after, Jones passed by one of the posters, taking notice of it.

"That time of the year already, huh...?"

* * *

Later that night, Jones discussed the lighting contest with his wife Luna. "That again?" Luna asked, concerned. "Did you forget about last year, when you almost blew out all the fuses in the house?"

"I know, but we were so close to winning last year!" Jones said with a frustrated sigh. "If only Masterson hadn't figured out how to sync audio to his lighting setup..."

"Well, if you're going to enter us into that thing again, try to keep the setup sensible this time," Luna insisted.

"Sensible lighting that can put us on top of whatever Masterson's cooked up?" Jones shook his head. "That just isn't possible, at least not with the timeframe given. If one of us could be working on it full time that'd be another matter, but I can't use up all my personal days for lighting setup, and I can't ask you to do so either."

Luna gave him an odd look. "Did you forget I work from home?"

"It would still end up taking away from your work time," Jones said. "If only we could get a third person with no obligations on our side..."

"...Maybe we can," Luna said.

"Pardon?"

"I remember coming across a self-duplication spell in one of my books the other day," Luna told him.

Jones scoffed. "I can already duplicate myself," he said. "That won't do much good."

"No, I mean one that is more stable and longer-lasting than the one you use," Luna said. "It makes a copy that can act and think on its own and can last up to two weeks."

"Two weeks..." Jones thought about it. "That's MORE than enough time to finish a proper lighting setup."

"Though it _did_ look pretty complicated to pull off..."

"I say it's worth a shot regardless," Jones insisted. "Let's do it!"

They made their way to Luna's book collection and, after a bit of searching, found the book Luna had mentioned. "So who's going to have the copy made, you or me?" Luna asked.

"Considering you're almost always home anyway, I'd think having to put up with another of yourself would be more mentally taxing on you than me," Jones said with a light chuckle.

"But having to put up with two of you for up to two weeks?" Luna laughed. "Still, you have a point. It'd also be more obvious that there would be two of me than of you since you're at the school during the day."

"All right, then," Jones said. "Let's get this over with."

Luna holds out the spellbook and begins to perform the duplication spell. Gradually Jones goes from being one person to two. "Well, did it work?" one of the Jones duplicates asked.

"I just heard myself, that means it worked, right?" the other one semi-echoed.

The Jones duplicates looked each other over. "Not bad," one of them said. "It's a little weird seeing a double of myself acting completely independently, but it's nothing I can't get over."

"I _know_ , right?" the other said happily. "And it worked perfectly. I can't see any difference between us!"

"I can, though," Luna said. "Look at your eyes."

The two Jones look at one another's eyes. Unlike his normal singular self, which had one purple eye and one yellow eye, one of the Jones had two purple eyes and the other one had two yellow eyes. "Well, damn," they both said in unison.

"Nothing that a couple pairs of sunglasses can't fix, right?" Luna suggested.

"True," the purple-eyed Jones said. He turned to his yellow-eyed counterpart. "So, who's going to school and who's staying here?" he asked.

"I think I should be the one on the job," the yellow-eyed Jones said.

The purple-eyed Jones sighed in relief. "I was hoping you'd say that. I'm honestly drawing a blank on some of our lesson plans, hehe..."

"Really?" the yellow-eyed Jones asked. "I can remember them almost perfectly."

"Well, either way, I guess we've got all this figured out so we'll be good to go for tomorrow," Luna sighed. "Right?"

"Right."

* * *

The next day, the yellow-eyed Jones headed off to school, a pair of dark sunglasses on his face. Soon after he had left, the purple-eyed Jones, wearing some mirrored shades, and Luna began work on the lighting display.

At school, Jones' new choice of accessory didn't exactly go unnoticed by the students. "Excuse me, Mr. Jones?" Mona asked.

"Yes, Miss Lisall?" Jones responded.

Mona gave him an odd look. "Um, why did you start wearing sunglasses?"

"Eh..." He had to think of a reasonably plausible excuse, and fast. "I had an optometrist visit last night and they had to dilate my pupils to properly test them. The doctor said I should wear sunglasses for the next few days due to the increased sensitivity."

The class seemed to accept that answer. Relieved, Jones went back to the lesson at hand. The day continued on as normal until sometime after lunch, when Jones took an abnormal nap during his planning period. "Hey, Dave, you okay there?"

Jones slowly woke up from his impromptu nap. "Ngh...w-wha...?"

"I said, you okay?" Coach DK repeated. "It's not like you to fall asleep on the job."

"I'm fine, really," Jones said. "Everything's fine."

"You sure?" Coach DK asked. "You don't want me to get you a coffee or anything?"

"You know I don't drink coffee," Jones sighed.

"Oh yeah. Well, I'd better get goin'," Coach DK turned to leave, but stopped. "...Don't overdo it, okay? If you need to go home, I can sub for you next period if you want."

"I said I was fine!" Jones insisted.

"O-okay."

* * *

The yellow-eyed Jones managed to hold out for the rest of the school day, and when he arrived home, nearly half of the planned lighting setup was already in place. There was even a radio nearby playing festive music, presumably having decided to take a leaf out of Masterson's playbook from the previous year. "Oooh, nice," the yellow-eyed Jones said.

At that moment, the purple-eyed Jones 2 popped up from the other side of the roof, as did Luna. "Welcome back, other me!" the purple-eyed Jones called down to his yellow-eyed counterpart. "What do you think of our work so far?"

"Looks great," the yellow-eyed Jones replied. "It's coming along quite nicely."

"Good evening, dear," Luna said as she climbed down from the nearby ladder. "How was your day?"

"It was okay," the yellow-eyed Jones replied. "There was this weird point where I felt more tired than usual, but other than that it was just a normal day."

Luna seemed puzzled, but brushed it off. "Well, it did say in the book that the two duplicates would have slightly more fatigue than normal," she said.

"Really?" the purple-eyed Jones asked, confused. "I've felt perfectly energized all day."

"All things considered, I'd say this was a successful first day," Luna said happily.

* * *

The next day, the yellow-eyed Jones went to work as normal, but seemed sluggish pretty much all day. He even paused for no reason during one of his lessons, completely unlike him as he usually kept on going until he made it clear he was breaking the lecture. "Hey, Mr. Jones, you okay?" a student named Fox McCloud asked him.

"Huwha?!" Jones half-shouted, startled. "... Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just...must've not gotten enough sleep last night." He shook his head to try and clear any fuzziness from his mind. "Anyway, you all know that your group presentations are due today. McCloud, why don't you, Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad come up and present first—"

"Teach, Slippy ain't even in this class!" Falco reminded him, slightly miffed. "Me and Fox were partnered with Mac, remember?"

"Ah yes, right," Jones said with a nod. "To confuse two vastly different individuals as Slippy Toad and Mac Montgomery...I must be more out of it than I thought..."

* * *

Meanwhile, things weren't doing much better on the home front. The purple-eyed Jones had fallen asleep on the ladder, right in the middle of hanging a strand of lights. "David?" Luna said, nudging her sleeping husband. "David, honey, wake up!"

"Eh...?" The purple-eyed Jones woke up, confused. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"Long enough for me to be concerned," Luna replied. "Maybe we should take a break."

"Yeah, good idea." The purple-eyed Jones started to climb down the ladder, but he slipped on one of the lowermost steps and fell backwards.

"Aah!" Luna cried. "Are you all right?"

"I think so..." He made an attempt to stand afterward, but was really wobbly in a way that didn't seem consistent with his short fall.

"We should double-check that duplication spell," Luna said, concerned. "I think something went wrong." After Luna had helped the purple-eyed Jones inside, she took a second look at the duplication spell. Upon further examination, she discovered a warning on the spell that she hadn't noticed before.

 _ **Warning:**_ _Spell should only be attempted by experiences magic users on completely willing subjects. Even when both conditions are met, though extremely rare, there is the potential risk of the subject possibly suffering an after-effect known as psychic meltdown, which can become fatal if not dealt with swiftly. Symptoms of developing psychic meltdown include, but are not limited to, the following:_

 _-physical differences between duplicates upon initial casting (not including clothing, accessories, or anything else that is normally removable from one's body)  
_ _-unequal memory transfer between duplicates upon initial casting  
_ _-unequal levels of energy or fatigue between duplicates  
_ _-abnormally low coordination with either duplicate  
_ _-abnormal migraines with either duplicate_

 _Upon display of symptoms, attempt to reunite duplicates as soon as possible._

"Oh god..." Luna turned to the purple-eyed Jones on the couch. "We have to get you two back together NOW." Luna led the purple-eyed Jones outside by the arm, put him on the back of her broom, and rode off as fast as she could to the school.

* * *

At that moment, the yellow-eyed Jones had collapsed in the middle of the lesson, clutching his head in pain. The class began to predictably freak out at this. "Hang in there, teach!" Falco exclaimed.

"Someone go get the nurse!" Luigi cried.

"I'm on it!" Mac said. Like a bullet, he jumped out of his seat and ran out the door.

Meanwhile, Coach DK was walking down that particular hall, talking to someone on his phone. "But seriously, Candy, I was on my way to work today and this Kremling drives by at, like, 90 miles an hour on the freeway!" he exclaimed to the other person. "And I'm like, 'what the hell, Kremling?! Why you drivin' so fast on the freeway?!'"

It was then that Mac nearly ran into the well-dressed gorilla. "Sorry, Coach!" he shouted back as he kept running.

"...Call you back later, sweet banana," Coach DK said before hanging up his phone. He made his way to the classroom Mac had come from. "What's going on here?" he asked. He then saw Jones on the floor. "Oh god! What happened?!"

Jones tried to stand up, but it was apparent he was in too much pain to do so. "...my head...it feels like...it's on fire..." he muttered. His phone then rang from inside his desk. "...s-somebody get that..."

"Hold on, I'll get it." Coach DK opened up Jones' desk drawer and answered the phone for him. "Hello?"

" _Donkey Kong?_ " Luna asked in confusion from the other side. " _Why are you...where's David?_ "

"Oh, Luna, perfect timing!" Coach DK exclaimed. "Your husband's not doing so hot. He's on the floor of his classroom, massive headache."

" _I was afraid you'd say something like that,_ " Luna said. " _Listen, I'm outside the school gates and I need to get in. It's urgent, and I didn't have time to grab David's visitor key before I left._ "

"Say no more, I'm comin'." He hung up, then turns back to Jones. "Your wife's here, I'm gonna go let her in. Seems like she might be able to help."

"Thank god..." Jones muttered.

Coach DK left the classroom as fast as he could, running out of the building and over to the gate. "All right, what's the prob—" he started to ask when he saw Luna, but then he noticed the purple-eyed Jones. "What the..."

"I'll explain later, I promise," Luna insisted.

Confused, Coach DK nevertheless let them in. The three of them made their way to the classroom and upon arrival, Luna quickly reversed the spell and merged the two Jones duplicated together. "I think I'm starting to feel better now..." Jones said, clearly tired but no longer in pain.

"I'm so sorry, honey," Luna said. "I should've read over that spell more thoroughly before I suggested it."

"Wait, what exactly was happening to me?" Jones asked.

"Something called psychic meltdown."

At that moment, Mac returned with the nurse, along with Principal Masterson in tow. "Is everyone all right in here?" the nurse asked. "I was told someone collapsed!"

"I did, but I'm fine now," Jones told her.

The nurse sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Would someone mind explaining to me what's going on?" Masterson asked. "There've been people tromping around the halls like a pack of wild elephants."

"Uh...it's...kind of a long story..." Luna said.

"I think we should come clean," Jones said. "This whole thing started because of the lights contest. I was desperate to beat you this year, so I had Luna cast a duplication spell so I could work on the setup while also being here to do my job. It was reckless..."

Masterson let out a sheepish chuckle. "To be fair, I've been getting extra help as well..."

Jones gave him an odd look. "...What."

"Yeah," Masterson said. "You know my brother's in town, right? He's been helping me with this year's setup."

"WHAT?!" Jones jumps up, angry at this new information. "You've been using outside help to gain an advantage?!"

"You have no right to complain!" Masterson insisted. "You duplicated yourself for the same purpose!"

"It was still me, though!" Jones countered. "And I nearly died for that!"

"Well, either way, you're safe now and that's all that matters, right?" Masterson chuckled. "Right? Hehe..."


	15. Snow Place Like Home

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 15: Snow Place Like Home**  
(Originally posted on deviantART on December 27, 2014)_

Whether or not certain teenagers have started progress on this important modern-day milestone or how far they've gotten along, some schools require all the students to take at least one Driver's Ed class. Nintendo High was one of them, making Driver's Ed a requirement for students in either their junior or senior year. Due to having all of the driving hours necessary to get his permit upgraded to a full license before the course had ended, Ivo decided it would be a better use of his time to work on something else while he sat out of the driving practice. Bowser sat down beside him as he waited for his turn at the practice car. "Whatcha working on?" Bowser asked.

"I'm just finalizing something on a project I've been working on lately," Ivo said.

"Lemme take a look," Bowser insisted. He reached for Ivo's notebook, who pulled it away before he could get his claws on it.

"Can you not?" Ivo said, annoyed. "You wouldn't understand it in its unfinished state, anyway."

"Aw, c'mon!" Bowser groaned. "I'm not as dumb with machines as you think I am! I help my pop fix the car all the time!"

"But could you design a car from the ground up?" Ivo asked him.

Bowser thought for a bit. "Uh...no, I don't think I could."

"Therein lies the reason you wouldn't understand my notes," Ivo explained. "This isn't some pre-existing thing you can buy with an owner's manual that details proper maintenance and part replacement, it's a completely new device the likes of which have never been seen. I'll be finished building the thing properly within a few days if I can keep up my current rate of progress, I'll let you see it then."

Bowser sighed. "Okay, I guess."

At that moment, the student driver car had returned. Ashley stepped out of the driver's seat and their instructor, "Captain" Douglas J. Falcon, exited the passenger's side. After writing Ashley's current driving progress on his clipboard, Falcon waved Bowser over. "Morton, you're up next!" Falcon exclaimed, using Bowser's given name rather than what everyone called him. "C'mon over!"

Bowser groaned, not only due to the embarrassing name usage but also the annoyance of having to adjust the seat after someone so much smaller than him. "Coming..."

* * *

The following Sunday, Ivo called Bowser over to his house. "So what's all this about, anyway?" Bowser asked, slightly annoyed.

"Remember a couple days ago when you tried to be nosy with my construction notes?" Ivo asked.

"Geez, you still on about that?" Bowser grumbled.

"I promised I'd show you what I was working on when it was completed," Ivo said. He led Bowser to his basement, where something large was hidden under a sheet. He then removed the sheet with a flourish, revealing a machine that was obviously different than the others that littered the room.

"Sooo...what is it?" Bowser asked.

"It's a meteorological manipulation device," Ivo explained. "It establishes communications with old satellites no longer in use in order to redirect weather patterns to places they either wouldn't naturally occur or wouldn't occur at a preferred moment in time."

Bowser gave Ivo an odd look. "...Think you could explain that again in regular people speak?" he asked.

Ivo sighed. "You remember Storm from X-men?"

Bowser nodded. "I never really gave a damn about X-men, but I know who you're talking about," he said. "I think I get what you're saying now. So this thing can change the weather?"

"Exactly," Ivo said. "To be honest, it's not _quite_ finished yet. I mean, there are still some bugs in the system to iron out, but I figured it was close enough to completion to show off."

"So when are you gonna try it out?" Bowser asked, grinning.

"I actually already have been, just to get the calibrations right," Ivo replied. "Have you noticed this weekend's been colder than it usually is?"

"That was your thing?" Bowser asked. "I thought it was just a random cold snap."

Ivo nodded. "Exactly the point. I wanted to test it for minor temperature changes before I tried out anything with high levels of precipitation or winds."

"I still don't get why you'd build something like this," Bowser said. "Usually you like working on things like fancy guns or robots and such."

"Think about it for a minute," Ivo said. "We live in southern California, with severe droughts every summer. If this device were fully capable, the yearly droughts could be made much less severe, or even eliminated altogether. Not just that, it could prevent destructive hurricanes on the east coast, ensure the arrival of recently disrupted seasonal rains in Africa, whatever and wherever you like!" He let slip a sly grin. "And, of course, you just _know_ world governments will pay big bucks for something like this."

"So it's about money." Bowser sighed, oddly relieved. "I was afraid you'd gone completely altruistic on me."

"I'm surprised you even know what that word means," Ivo said as he began adjusting dials on the machine.

"Well, with one of my best buds being such a smart guy, I guess you rubbed off on me," Bowser laughed. "So, when we gonna get a demonstration of the storm machine?"

"Just a bit," Ivo said. He paused briefly, thinking on Bowser's words. "Huh, that's actually a good working name for it, the Storm Machine."

As Ivo kept making adjustments to the machine, Bowser started to get agitated from waiting. "Sooo...what are you gonna make it do?" he asked.

"I'm thinking of a light snow flurry," Ivo said. "Considering what time of year it is, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would appreciate a white Christmas for a change."

Ivo continued to prep the machine for its first big demonstration. However, Bowser had grown incredibly bored and fidgety. "Ugh, just hurry up already!" he moaned.

"I have to make sure it's set up right first," Ivo insisted. Bowser couldn't take the anticipation anymore and reached for the activation switch. "You idiot, get away from that!" Ivo shouted. "It's not ready yet!"

"You're taking too damn long!" Bowser growled.

The two fought over the switch as Ivo tried to keep Bowser from activating it prematurely. Eventually Bowser won out and activated the switch, albeit with a bit too much gusto. The switch jammed, and despite the attempts he made, Ivo couldn't switch it back off. "Moron, you busted it!" Ivo shouted angrily.

"...Oops."

"Well, at least it's only gonna be a light snowfall," Ivo sighed in frustration. "It hopefully won't get too serious until I can fix everything." He glared at Bowser. "You're lucky I'm not taking a blowtorch to your ass for that."

"Maybe...I should leave, then?" Bowser asked sheepishly.

"Maybe you should," Ivo said coldly.

"Well...see you later when I'm not making such a mess of things, I guess." With a nervous laugh, Bowser quickly left.

Ivo sighed, annoyed over the mess he would now have to clean up. And everything had been going so well, too. "Sometimes I wonder why I even hang out with him..."

* * *

The next morning, Mario awoke to find his room eerily cold. He rubbed his running nose and, curious to the source of the cold, opened the curtains to see the city streets outside covered in a blanket of white. "What the..." Mario murmured.

Luigi soon entered the room, shivering from the abnormally low temperature. "M-Mario, d-d-didn't Mom say not to t-turn on the AC in the winter?" he asked through his chattering teeth. He sneezed, then looked outside as well. "Aah! What happened?" he shouted. "How is this even possible?"

"I don't know..." Mario said breathlessly, "but it's _beautiful_. It's like one of Grandma's Christmas card photos from back east, but right here outside our window!"

"It's weird, is what," Luigi said with a sniffle. "You _do_ realize that we don't have any real cold-weather clothing, right?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Mario said. "But at least we finally have an excuse to use the fireplace!" Luigi just stared at him in disbelief.

* * *

Meanwhile, all across the city, nearly everyone was enjoying the beautiful weather anomaly. School had even closed for the day, which is to be expected when there's that much unexpected snow. Bowser's gang was in particularly good spirits, at least for the most part. "This snow is awesome!" Guy shouted in delight.

"Speak for yourself," Paraplonk moaned. "You're warm-blooded...or, are you, even?"

"I always told you guys my mom had good reasons for making me dress warmly!" Goomp said tauntingly.

Bowser just plodded along behind them, wincing as his bare feet touched the cold snow until he received an unexpected phone call. He answered the phone with an irritated growl. "What?"

" _Get your oversized reptilian_ _ **ass**_ _over here_ _ **right now**_ _,_ " Ivo snarled from the other end of the call.

"Hey, just 'cuz you're my bud doesn't give you the right to boss me around!" Bowser said.

" _Just get over here or I'll replace all the photos on the school's website with you in the costume from Peach's last Halloween party._ "

"You wouldn't _dare!_ " Bowser shouted. Unfortunately, he knew from experience that yes, Ivo _would_ dare. He groaned in defeat. "Fine, I'm on my way." Bowser made his way to Ivo's house and upon arrival was hastily brought inside and down to the basement workshop.

"It's worse than I thought it would be, much worse," Ivo told him, a genuine tone of worry in his voice. "There's much more precipitation than I had calculated for. The current level of snowfall wasn't supposed to happen for a few days at least, and I can't properly make any modifications in its current state. If this keeps up, the entire city will be crippled before the week is out. I'd be surprised we got off with just a school closing for now if I hadn't seen pyros and cryos outside clearing the streets as best they could, but I don't know if they'll be able to keep up with it forever..."

"And you called me over here just for that?" Bowser asked, slightly annoyed.

" _Think_ , you idiot!" Ivo yelled. " _You_ broke the machine. That makes _you_ partly responsible for this mess, so _you_ get to help me fix it." He shoved a selection of tools into Bowser's arms. "Just follow my instructions and it'll be like helping your dad with the car. Only if we fail to get this thing working again, the consequences will be far more severe than hefty mechanic's bills and rental car fees."

Bowser sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of it. "Fine. Just tell me what goes where..."

* * *

Over the next few days, the snow continued to pile up around the city. It had gotten so bad that the city started calling out for volunteers that either possessed heat-based powers or owned Fire-type Pokémon. Mario grabbed his coat and left to help the street cleaning effort while Luigi stayed at home, wrapped up in just about every blanket in the house and sitting in front of the fireplace. Mario soon arrived at a meeting spot for his neighborhood's volunteers with a few others, including Red, Daisy (who brought a wheelbarrow full of Fire Flowers), and Vivi. "Hey, Vivi, aren't you a bit young to be doing something like this?" Red asked.

"Well, they said anyone from high school age and older could volunteer, and my parents said it was okay and all..." Vivi said, slightly embarrassed.

"Give him a break, Red," Mario said. "If he wants to help out, he should get to help out. Besides, from what I've heard, he's one of the best magic students in freshman year." He turned to Vivi. "Isn't that right?" he asked. Vivi didn't answer, but instead hid his face in embarrassment.

Shortly after that moment, the volunteers got to work clearing up the snow. Red's Charmeleon shot off a few small embers to melt the snow, while Mario and Vivi spread out some fireballs as well. Daisy handed out her Fire Flowers to the Pokémon trainers and non-powered people present so they could help as well. "I just realized that with all these Fire Flowers being used for snow clearing, I won't have to suffer through Mom's ABTs this Christmas," Daisy said with a disgusted grimace.

"ABTs?" Red asked, confused.

"You don't wanna know," Daisy insisted.

"Oooh-kay then."

"I bet if that Bowser guy were here we'd be able to get done at least a little faster," Vivi said as he cleared a few feet of snow with a fire spell. "I mean, he breathes fire, right? What do you guys think?"

"Are you kidding? Bowser, volunteer?" Mario scoffed. "He wouldn't volunteer even if his football scholarship depended on it. You'd have to pay him to get him to do any honest work."

"Or threaten him," Daisy said.

Mario nodded. "Maybe, if the threat were serious enough."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Ivo's house, that's exactly what Bowser was doing. Ivo had almost finished fixing the weather machine thanks to Bowser's help. "I _told_ you I could fix things," Bowser said.

"I never doubted you could, at least if you had some instructions to go by. And...I think that settles it," he said as he made the final mechanical adjustment and closed the open panel on the side of the machine. "Let's hope this works." Ivo reset the dials on the weather machine to cancel all of its own manipulative signals. He crossed his fingers in desperation and flipped the switch. His outside camera, which had been monitoring the precipitation, showed that all precipitation had instantly ceased. "Thank god that's over with," he sighed in relief. He then turned to Bowser. "Now don't go touching my stuff unless I say you can!" he insisted.

"All right, all right," Bowser grumbled. "Geez, haven't I apologized enough this week?"

* * *

Outside, the air began to get slightly warmer. Icicles on the edges of roofs dripped slowly as they started to melt, and the people outside gradually felt more comfortable to trade their rarely used heavy coats for the lighter jackets that they more commonly wore during this time of year.

Later in the day, Mario had returned home and was kicking back in a climate that was slowly returning to a normal Miyamotopolis winter, which is more like mid autumn for the majority of the country. "I tell you, bro," Mario sighed, "if I never see snowfall again, it'll be too soon."

"Hopefully the only extra snow we get for a long time comes in plastic bags," Luigi laughed.

"You said it."


	16. The Reason for the Season

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 16: The Reason for the Season  
** (Originally posted on deviantART on July 8, 2015.)_

Despite the previous week of school having been cancelled, winter break proceeded at its usual start date. Presumably the school board felt bad about the notion of taking away from the students' and teachers' break and decided to instead tack the missing week onto the end of the year. Mario and Peach were taking advantage of their Monday off by hanging out at the mall. "Ah, I'll be glad when all the snow's completely melted," Peach said with a sigh. "Small bits of it keep seeping into my shoes."

"Yeah, and at this point it's not even pretty anymore," Mario said. "It's all black from road residue and smells like a stink."

"It was nice while it lasted, though," Peach giggled. "The snow itself, I mean, not the cold that came with it. I wonder how we were even able to get snow in the first place...?" She glanced up at the sky, as if it would give her the answer she sought.

Mario shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe someone just really wanted a white Christmas." He laughed as they entered the mall proper. "So, where do you wanna go first?" he asked.

Peach thought for a bit. "Well, I reserved a movie at Disctop and I was kinda hoping it was in."

Mario nodded. "Okay, let's head there, then."

They headed to Disctop and Peach approached the counter to check for her movie. Meanwhile Mario took the opportunity to look around. He perused the shelves near the back that were lined with plush dolls of characters and mascot creatures from various games and cartoons. Soon enough, he was approached by Ike, who lacked his usual headband and was dressed in employee's attire. "Hey, Mario, need anything?" he asked.

"I'm looking for a present for Peach..." Mario murmured, still examining the line of dolls.

"You serious, man?" Ike groaned. "Christmas is less than a week away, you know. This isn't a good time to start your gift purchases."

"I know, but she's the only person I still have yet to get anything," Mario said. "I mean, I have a thousand ideas, but they're all stuff that either she already has or I can't get her on my own."

Ike gave him his best salesman's smile. "Well, does Peach happen to like..." He then pulled a foam pixel-style pickaxe from behind his back. "...BlockBuilders?"

"I'm...pretty sure the only videogame she plays on her own is Candy Crush or something," Mario said.

"Eh, sorry," Ike said in embarrassment. "I've been told to push the BlockBuilders merch today."

"It's okay," Mario said. "I think Yoshi or Link might like that game, though..."

"Maybe you could get her a piggy?" Ike suggested, motioning toward a box of blocky-looking plush toys.

"You're _really_ pushing the BlockBuilders stuff, aren't you?" Mario asked suspiciously. He thought for a bit, then asked, "Wait, doesn't that game have horses now?"

"I think so, yeah," Ike said. He examined the multitude of blocky plush toys, checking the tags of each one. "Yeah, there's a plush horse in there that looks like the same style as the other game creatures."

"Well, this'll be good for both of us," Mario said. "You get to say you sold some BlockBuilders stuff, and Peach will get a gift she appreciates. I mean, I know she likes horses."

"Really?" Ike asked. "She's an equestrian?"

Mario shook his head. "No, I mean like she appreciates their beauty or whatever," he replied. "Kind of like how someone with a dog allergy still likes looking at pictures of dogs."

At that moment, Mario could hear Peach calling his name from the front of the store. "Mario!" she called out. "I got my movie if you're ready to go somewhere else!"

"Just a minute!" Mario called back. He then turned to Ike. "I'll give you the money for the horse doll if you'll buy it for me," he told him. "Do that and I'll come back to get it on my way out. Sound cool?"

"Sounds good to me," Ike said. "I'm pretty sure that's legal, anyway."

Mario handed Ike the money for the horse doll. Ike stealthily took the doll to the counter as Mario and Peach headed off to other spots in the mall. "So what do you wanna do next?" Mario asked Peach as they walked.

Peach thought for a minute. "Oh, let's go get some ice cream!" she exclaimed.

"Ice cream, when there's snow out?" Mario jokingly asked.

"Oh, hush, you," Peach said. "You know perfectly well it's warm enough both outside and inside to justify ice cream."

Mario laughed. "Fair enough," he said. "Lead the way to your preferred creamery, my princess."

They both laughed at their in-joke and proceeded to the ice cream place in the food court. As they ate their ice cream, Peach turned the subject of the conversation to break plans. "So, what are you up to the next couple weeks?" she asked. "Anything really interesting going on?"

"Oh, I dunno," Mario said. "I didn't really have anything in mind aside from spending time with family and such. I mean, I could say I'd be relaxing from school too, but given the weird snowfall last week giving us extra break time, I think I've had at least some decent relaxing already."

"You helped with the clearing effort, too," Peach reminded him. "I think that deserves some extra relaxation."

"Oh yeah," Mario laughed. "How could I forget that?"

"So, that's all, then?" Peach asked, sounding slightly worried. "Sure you're not forgetting anything?"

"I don't think so," Mario said.

Peach gave him an odd look. "What about the Christmas party?"

"Well, of course I'm going to the Christmas party!" Mario exclaimed. "I just didn't mention it because I thought I had already RSVP'd. Besides, you know I could never miss one of your parties."

"Haha, that's a relief," Peach sighed. "For a second I thought you had actually forgotten. Though if you had plans with family at the same time as the party, I'd understand. Christmas is a time for family, after all."

"No, no, you picked a really good date for the party, it doesn't clash with anything," Mario said. "Though I gotta say, two parties in less than two months? Are you sure that's really a good idea? You're not overexerting yourself, are you?"

"No, not at all!" Peach insisted. "You know how much fun I have planning parties."

"I'm just concerned, that's all."

After they finished their ice cream, Peach and Mario went to catch a movie for no reason other than there were good movies out and they had the time to kill. As they were about to head out, Mario remembered the horse he had asked Ike to purchase for him. His face contorted as he desperately tried to think of an excuse to return to that particular store. "Something wrong, Mario?" Peach asked upon seeing Mario's expression.

Mario's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to come up with a semi-plausible explanation. "I, uh...I think I lost my phone!" he half-shouted. He hoped upon hope that his jacket was long enough to cover the bulge in his pants pocket where his phone actually rested.

Peach gasped in mild shock. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "We need to look for it now!"

"Let's not panic, okay?" Mario said, trying to seem genuinely concerned yet not wanting Peach to freak out over a non-issue. "I'm pretty sure I know where I had it last."

"Want me to come and help you look?" Peach asked.

"No, no, I'll be fine," Mario insisted. "You just go get the car ready, and I'll call you when I've found it."

"And if you don't?" Peach asked.

"Well, you won't get a call, will you?" Mario asked rhetorically. Peach gave Mario a worried glance, then smiles and turned to head to the parking lot. Mario then made his way back to the electronics store. He approached the counter and found Ike, who was busy sorting some returns. "I'm back, Ike," Mario said.

"Hey, Mario," Ike said, tearing his attention away from the returned stock. "Whatcha need?"

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Mario moaned.

Ike smiled somewhat deviously. "I dunno, maybe I did, maybe I didn't," he said. "Lemme just ask a friend real quick." Ike ducked under the counter, then seconds later thrust his hand onto the countertop, clutching the blocky horse plush and "walking" it back and forth between the two registers. "Well hay there, Mr. Segali!" he said in a dopey, happy voice that was presumably intended to be that of the horse. "You wanna take me home for that special gal of yours? I'm chompin' at the bit and ready to go!"

Mario rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. "Ha ha, very funny."

Ike stood up fully, laughing a bit more than Mario had. "Seriously, though, she's all taken care of," he said. "Already been rung up and everything. You need a bag with that?"

Mario shook his head. "Nah, I came back with the excuse of losing my phone and if I took a bag she'd just get suspicious."

"Oh, all right," Ike said with a nod. "Just don't forget the receipt or my manager might see and get angry."

Mario took the horse doll, wrapped the receipt around its midsection, and shoved it deep into his jacket pocket. He then took his phone out of his pants pocket and dialed Peach. "Mario, you found it!" Peach's voice rang out as soon as the call had connected.

"Who is Mario?" Mario asked, faking an Indian accent. "This is Kevin, how may I help you, ma'am?"

"Real funny, Mario," Peach said. "The caller ID doesn't lie, and I know you're terrible at mimicking accents."

Mario laughed. "I'll be out there in just a bit," he said in his normal voice.

Mario exited the mall and made his way to Peach's car. As he got in, he took extra precaution to keep the horse from poking out of his pocket. "So, where was it?" Peach asked him.

"Can you believe I lost it as early as the electronics store?" Mario chuckled. "Thankfully Ike was there and he kept it until I came looking for it." It may not have been the exact truth, but it was easier than to make up a crazy story just to hide the purchase of a small horse doll.

"He's a good guy, that Ike," Peach said, smiling.

"Yes, he is." With that, Mario and Peach left the mall and headed back to Mario's house. As Mario exited the car and made his way to the house, he turned back to Peach, resting his arms on the open window of the passenger door. "You sure you can't stay for a while, Peachy?" he asked.

Peach sighed, a bit of sadness noticeably present. "You know I'd love to, but I still have preparations for the party that I haven't taken care of yet..."

"All right," Mario said. "Have a good night, then."

Mario waved as Peach drove away. As soon as her car left the street, he entered his house and took the horse to his room, grabbing a spare roll of wrapping paper off the kitchen table as he did so. He placed the horse on his desk and began to wrap the friendly-looking toy in the colorful paper. Soon it resembled a vibrant baked potato. "There we go," Mario said. "That should do just fine." He placed the toy in a bag by his door and sighed in satisfaction.

"Mario!" Luigi shouted from downstairs. "Come down here, Mom brought home pizza!"

"Coming!" Mario shouted, soon running out the door.

* * *

On the outskirts of town a few days later, Link and Skull Kid were helping decorate Lon Lon Ranch for their annual Christmas charity event. Link was getting the horses prepped for the carriage riding by dressing them with festive bridles and saddles, while Skull Kid operated a fake snow spreader. "Remind me why you roped me into doing this thing with you again?" Skull Kid asked, somewhat frustrated.

"I've already told you at least twice," Link said as he finished one horse and moved onto another. "Malon's dad has a broken leg and her uncle's out of town visiting his fiancée's parents. This is at least a three-person job, and with only two people left able to do anything we needed a third."

"Oh yeah." Skull Kid went back to applying the fake snow. "You better keep your end of the bargain, y'hear?"

Link chuckled. "Who do you think you're talking to?" he asked jokingly. "Promise, first week it's open we're going to Cap'n Cuttlefish's on me."

Skull Kid grinned gleefully. "Sweeeeet, paintball!" he exclaimed. "Can't wait!"

As if in practice for the event, Skull Kid fired a stream of fake snow material more vigorously than he previously had been. It shot past the brown Clydesdale mare with the white mane that Link was currently tending to. The sudden burst of white spooked the mare and she reared back in fright, letting out a panicked whinny. "Settle down, Epona!" Link half-shouted, trying not to panic himself. "It's not going to hurt you!" Link took his phone out of his pocket and played a recording of a tune being played on some sort of wind instrument. Upon hearing the melody, the horse began to calm down. Link stroked her neck lightly and she gently nuzzled his face.

"Heh, I guess you have a way with ladies of all species," Skull Kid said with a snicker.

Link gave him an odd look. "You _do_ realize that sounds really inappropriate, right?" he asked.

Soon enough, Malon, the redheaded daughter of the ranch's owner, then approached the two of them. She looked over the boys' work and beamed with pride. "Well, it looks like everything's coming along just fine over here," she said. "Great work, you two."

Link smiled at Malon's compliments. "I take it the front's done, then?" he asked.

"Yep," Malon replied with a light nod. "I think it looks pretty good, myself."

Just then, Link's phone began to ring. He checked the contact info, and upon reading it he began to blush slightly. "It's Zelda..." he muttered to himself. He turned to the others, slightly embarrassed. "Mind if I take this call real quick?" he asked Malon.

Malon nodded. "Sure, go ahead," she told him. "We're pretty much on break now, anyway."

"Really?" Skull Kid sighed in relief. "Ah, thank god! I'm beat!"

Link walked away to a slightly more private area of the ranch and answered his phone. "H-hey, Zelda!" he said upon answering. "How's it goin'?"

" _Hello, Link,_ " Zelda said on the other end. " _I'm doing well, how about yourself?_ "

"Doin' good." Link sighed, trying to think of how to steer the conversation properly. "So...what's up?"

" _I wanted to ask you something,_ " Zelda said. Her tone sounded somewhat hesitant, unusual for her typical confident self. " _Do you have any plans for Saturday?_ " she finally asked.

"This Saturday?" Link repeated. He could feel his cheeks grow slightly warmer. "Well, I did get an invite for Peach's Christmas party, but I don't know if I'm gonna go. I mean, I'm not exactly Christian..."

" _Neither am I, though there are plenty of people who prefer to celebrate the secular aspects of Christmas,_ " Zelda said, more matter-of-factly than was probably necessary. " _Even without the specific holiday itself, it's a nice day for relaxing._ "

Link laughed nervously. "That's certainly true."

" _Well, anyway, if you don't have anything planned on Saturday..._ " Zelda paused, as if trying to pick her words carefully. " _Would you...like to spend some time together? A night on the town, perhaps, just the two of us?_ "

"J-just...the two of us...?" Link repeated in barely a whisper. He began mentally cursing himself for his inability to answer. It was a simple yes-or-no question and he couldn't even bring himself to utter one syllable! What _was_ it about some people that intimidated him to the point of near-muteness?

" _If you're busy that day, I understand,_ " Zelda said. She sounded genuinely disappointed. " _I just wanted to make sure because that's the first free day I've had in a while—_ "

"No!" Link finally blurted out. "I-I mean, yeah, I'd love to hang out on Saturday! I didn't have any plans besides sleeping all day, so hanging out with you sounds like a way better idea."

" _Oh, really?_ " Zelda's tone seemed to perk up at this response. " _That's wonderful! So would you like me to meet you at your place, or...?_ "

"Sure, sure!" Link said happily. "I'll text you my address, okay?"

"All right," Zelda said. "See you on Saturday, then."

"Great! See ya!" Link hung up, then practically squealed in delight. "This is so awesome!" he half-shouted. "Got a date with Zel-da...hehehe!"

Just as Link had hung up, Skull Kid and Malon approached him. "Well, someone sure sounds excited," Skull Kid chuckled. "Our little boy's finally growing up!"

Malon nudged Skull Kid's shoulder. "Rigby, stop that," she muttered. "You're probably embarrassing him!"

Skull Kid rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Mal, he's made of tougher stuff than that," he said.

"Honestly, at this point I'm so happy that I don't care whatever stupid stuff he says," Link said, still in elation.

"See, what'd I tell ya?" Skull Kid asked Malon. "...Wait a minute."

Link laughed, then ran around the open spaces in glee. He ran toward Epona and gave her a generous stroking behind the ear. "I got a date, Epona!" Link told the horse excitedly. "I got a date for Christmas! Isn't that exciting?!" Epona snorted, then nuzzled Link affectionately. "Heh, you probably don't care about my love life, do you?" Link asked. "You're just interested in the carrots in my pocket."

Epona answered him by grabbing onto the leafy tops poking out from his pocket and pulling one of the carrots out, spilling the others onto the ground. With his lingering elation and the silliness of the horse's actions, Link couldn't help but laugh some more.

* * *

Saturday evening had arrived, and Peach's Christmas party was well underway. Pretty much everyone there was enjoying themselves, though Peach was starting to regret inviting the Beanish sophomore due to the fact that he seemed to be bothering a lot of the other guests. "That Fawful kid is certainly... _enthusiastic_ about his interests, isn't he?" Peach asked, seemingly trying to keep her words as benevolent as possible in case Fawful could overhear.

Mario sighed. "Yeah, but if he comes up to me and starts rambling about his bean collection or something, don't be surprised if I run off to your bathroom to hide."

Peach pointed toward the stairs, which she had told other guests they weren't allowed to traverse. "The upstairs one is more secluded if you're so inclined," she told him.

"Thanks in advance," Mario said.

Peach laughed lightly. "Well, anyway, there's a good song playing, so let's dance!" The two began to dance, not in any specific manner but rather letting the music dictate their movements. Others danced alongside them, while others still hung around the outer rim of the dancing crowd with either snacks or conversation keeping them busy. Overall, it was a pretty solid party.

* * *

Link and Zelda made their way through the downtown lights display, admiring the bright colors surrounding them. "Hey, Zelda..." Link said somewhat more softly than usual. "I'm...really happy to be with you tonight..."

"Me too," Zelda said with a smile. "So...was there anything specific you wanted to do while we're out?" Link thought for a bit, then simply shrugged. "Well, that's all right," Zelda continued. "We can just enjoy the time we have together, we don't actually have to be doing anything." They kept on walking, taking the cool air night in, when Link suddenly stopped. "What is it?" Zelda asked.

"I just thought of something," Link said. "Let's go to Lon Lon Ranch."

"Lon Lon Ranch?" Zelda asked. "Why there?"

Link smiled. "Trust me, it's looking great this time of year. I think you'll like it." The two hopped onto Link's bike and made their way to the outskirts of town where Lon Lon Ranch was located. They arrived at the ranch within just a few minutes, and after disembarking the bike Zelda approached the decorated horse paddock.

"You're right, Link," Zelda said with a small gasp. "It's lovely."

"Wanna go for a carriage ride?" Link asked.

Zelda nodded with a smile. "Sounds good to me."

Link waved over Malon, who brought the carriage being pulled by Epona over to the two. Link and Zelda hopped onto the carriage and let it carry them through the special pathway, decorated with brilliant light setups and the festive-looking false snow on the tops of the fence posts.

* * *

The Christmas party was dying down as guest after guest began to leave. As the guests made their way home, Peach saw Fawful swiping a lot of the leftover cookies, and he seemed to notice her staring. "Miss Toadstool Peaches, fair warnings, I am taking the entire cookies of silvery sprinkles," Fawful said in his typical broken speech pattern. "Okay?"

"It's better than letting them go to waste and get stale, I guess," Peach said with a sigh. "Go ahead, then, take 'em all."

"Excitement!" Fawful exclaimed. He then proceeded to scoop up the rest of the cookies into a small bag and ran out the front door, chortling to himself like he had just made off with all the gold in Fort Knox and nearly knocking Luigi over in the process.

"Geez, that bean can run," Luigi muttered to himself. He approached Mario and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, bro, you ready to head home yet?" he asked.

"Just a sec," Mario said, turning to Peach. "So, Peach...I got you a little something while we were at the mall the other day."

Peach let out a small giggle. "I figured something was up with that cellphone story," she said.

Mario handed the colorful bundle to Peach, who carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal the horse plush. "I don't know how you feel about BlockBuilders," Mario said, a bit nervous, "but I know you like horses and cute animal dolls in general..."

"Oh, I actually really like BlockBuilders!" Peach said excitedly.

"Really?" Mario asked. "Huh...how did I not know that..."

"Maybe because I don't bring it up much?" Peach half-asked with a laugh. "I mean, last time I mentioned anything about it, people insisted that I join up on their multiplayer server and I mainly just play it in creative mode to chill out after a stressful day." She looked down at the horse doll and smiled. "I love this little guy. Thank you, Mario." Peach gave Mario a kiss in gratitude, and his face grew red as he and Luigi made their way home with the presents Peach had given them.


	17. Auld Lang Syne (Intermission)

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 17: Auld Lang Syne  
** (Originally posted on deviantART on August 28, 2015.)_

 _Note: This chapter is more of an intermission than anything, so it's quite a bit shorter than most. The next chapter will be longer, I promise._

Pit downed the rest of the soda he had gotten from the vending machine as he and Derek made their way home through the rather vacant night streets. He looked up at the moon above them, the only thing visible in the sky against the street lights, then looked at the clock on his phone and smiled. "2012's gonna be a great year," he said to his brother. "I can already tell."

"You know people keep saying the world's gonna end next December, right?" Derek mentioned.

Pit laughed. "Oh, come on, you don't actually believe that Mayan calendar bullcrap, do you?" he asked tauntingly.

Derek shook his head. "No, but several people do, and they might use it as an excuse to do crazy things."

"Yeah, you've got a point," Pit said. Then he had an idea. "Hey, if we can remember when next December rolls around, let's throw an apocalypse party," he suggested. "Worst case scenario, we all go out with a bang, and at best that'll be a great way to celebrate that we're still alive as well as Christmas and New Year's all rolled into one."

Derek let out a light, derisive laugh. "I forgot, you're one of the people I was talking about," he said.

Pit frowned. "Hey, not cool."

* * *

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy were sitting in Peach's room, each drinking juices as they watched the New Year's Eve program on TV. "Can't believe the year's almost over already," Mario said. "Am I the only one who feels like January was just a few months ago?"

"Ugh, speak for yourself," Daisy said. She took a large gulp from her juice. "Feels more like it's been three years instead of one."

"Really?" Luigi asked, giving Daisy a weird look. "You honestly feel that way?"

"Nah, I'm just jokin'," Daisy laughed. "Just felt like bein' a butt."

"It is kinda strange, though, how quickly a year seems to go by," Peach said. She then sighed, somewhat sadly. "Everything's going to be so different next year, though."

"What do you mean?" Mario asked. "I mean, sure, we'll be graduating in the summer, but who's to say _everything's_ going to change?"

"I'm just...worried," Peach replied hesitantly, staring at her half-drunk juice. "I'm worried that once we all graduate and go off to college, we'll end up drifting apart." She glanced up at Mario. "I mean, you and Luigi don't have to worry about that because you're brothers, but I mean us as a group of friends." She looked back at her juice. "...That's why I was so insistent on having another party so soon after the Halloween party. I wanted to make sure I could have as much time with my friends as possible."

"I had...I had no idea you felt that way," Mario said.

"We're not gonna drift away, Peach!" Luigi insisted. "...Are we?"

Daisy shrugged. "Well, some people say you don't tend to keep the same group of friends your whole life, but I have a feeling that our particular group is not one of the ones they're talking about when they say that." She gave Peach a friendly wink.

"I hope so," Peach said.

Daisy then stood up, the light of inspiration in her eyes. "I got a great idea!" she exclaimed. "This summer, after graduation, we're going on a road trip, all four of us!"

"A road trip?" Luigi asked, his interest piqued. "To where?"

"I don't know, Disneyland or something, anywhere that's fun!" Daisy said.

"That...actually sounds like a great idea!" Peach said in delight. "A week at Disney to kick off the rest of our lives after high school...it sounds perfect!"

Mario nodded in agreement. "Yeah, a week at Disney sounds great!"

At that moment, the countdown to midnight began on the program. As the chanting crowd surrounding the tower from which the ball dropped got closer to zero, Peach leaned over to give Mario a passionate kiss on the lips. "First kiss of the new year!" Peach giggled over the din of the far-distant crowd shouting in excitement as the ball they were gathered around reached the bottom of its pole.

"Ah dang, why didn't I think of that?" Luigi muttered, glancing over at Daisy.

"You wanted to kiss your bro for the new year, huh?" Daisy teased.

"Wh-no!" Luigi shouted over Daisy's laughter. "You know what I meant!"

* * *

AN: Since this chapter's so short, I decided to post it early so you guys get the next chapter for Christmas, even though the Christmas-themed chapter was the LAST one. Chapter 18's still something special to me.


	18. The Zero Hour

_**Nintendo High  
**_ _ **Chapter 18: The Zero Hour**  
(Originally posted on deviantART on September 1, 2015)_

After what has technically been a three-week long winter break, it was time for the students of Miyamotopolis to return to school. Nintendo High was bustling with activity as students and staff alike were either sharing the events that had taken place for them over the break or showing off the gifts they had received for their respective gift-giving holidays. There was, however, one topic of discussion that kept cropping up, one that did not have any sort of remaining holiday cheer. Something that had happened just two days before they had returned to school.

"Dude, that's entirely messed up," Yoshi said as he swallowed the piece of watermelon he had bitten off. "Even now I still don't get how anyone could kill even one person, let alone three at once."

"That's not even the worst part," Tom Nook said, grimacing in the slightest bit of dread. "It dives straight into creepypasta territory when you get into the extra details."

Yoshi stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he groaned. "Yick."

"Wait, what extra details?" Guy asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Zidane asked with a raised eyebrow. Guy shook his head, so Zidane elaborated. "The human and Hylian victims' bodies were completely drained of blood," he said, clearly trying to play up the creep factor of the situation. "The only bit of their own blood left anywhere near them was stains on their clothes where they were stabbed. The Rito that was with 'em still had most of his blood in his body, at least what didn't spill out from the wound."

"Ewwwww," Guy moaned, pushing away his lunch tray. "Do we _really_ have to talk about this while we're eating?"

Ashley shrugged. "I dunno, I find this stuff kind of fascinating," she said as she took a sip of her drink.

Amako gave Ashley a weird look, then wrote out something on the tablet she kept to communicate when Waka wasn't around. She showed it to those sitting opposite of Ashley so she couldn't see what she had written. " _Remind me again why we hang out with her?_ " the screen read. Presumably to not upset Ashley, no one responded aside from Tom, who merely shrugged.

"Wait, what did she say?" Ashley asked, her typical monotone speech having a hint of suspicion in it.

Tom tensed up. "Um...she was wondering where you got your cool rabbit bag!" he hastily replied.

Ashley turned to Amako. "Is that true?" she asked. Amako nodded nervously, taking care to keep the screen of her tablet hidden from Ashley's view. "...okay, then. _Sure_ you did."

Yoshi glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Oh, almost time for class," he said. "I gotta get going. See you guys."

Yoshi got up from the table and left, as did Zidane and Amako as Yoshi's mentioning of the time reminded them that it was nearly time for them to leave as well. The three juniors passed by Bowser and Ivo, who happened to be discussing the same case. "It doesn't even make any sense from a scientific standpoint," Ivo said in utter disbelief. "From the way it's described in the article, it seems that the two human victims were drained of their blood shortly after their death. I can't think of anything capable of pulling that off that'd be found in this area." He shook his head. "And leaving the Rito victim's blood alone seems odder still. If you're going to drain your victims' blood as a modus operandi, why only do it to two victims out of three?"

"I'm tellin' ya, man, it's gotta be vampires," Bowser insisted. "Picky eater vampires."

"Again with your ridiculous conspiracy theories!" Ivo shouted in frustration. "Remember last time you brought one up? We were practically chased out of Junes!"

"You can't deny that Giegue was acting super-suspicious," Bowser reminded him. "And I was right about one thing, wasn't I? He's definitely a space alien!"

Ivo groaned. "Bowser...that was already knowledge in the public record."

"Doesn't change that I was right about part of it," Bowser retorted with a chuckle. "In any case, I still stand by my idea that we've got vampires in Miyamotopolis. And if they're not _real_ vampires, then they're probably a couple rogue members of that subculture of edgy goths that think they're vampires who went too far with a knife and some kinda blood vacuum."

"Whatever you think, just keep in mind that I will have no part in it," Ivo said sternly.

Bowser shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "You're practically a shut-in anyway, and vamps can't get in your house if you don't specifically invite them in. ...At least, I think that's how it works." He laughed. "Anyway, you'll be fine, asshole."

Ivo gave him a weird look. "Thanks...?" Bowser patted Ivo on the back, which felt more like a hard hit, then he left for his next class. Alone, Ivo let his head sink into his hands. "...why couldn't I have just stuck to hanging out with the other science kids?"

* * *

Over the next few days, the shroud cast over the city by the strange triple homicide made the streets of the night take on an unfamiliar sinister quality. As a large city Miyamotopolis was no stranger to crime, violent or otherwise, but the bizarre nature of this particular incident put many of its citizens on edge. People who would normally feel perfectly comfortable walking the evening streets now took to staying indoors if leaving was unnecessary. The only people who were on this particular street were a trio of thugs; Wolf O'Donnell, an expellee, and drop-outs Panther Caroso and Leon Powalski.

As they made their way down the darkened side street looking for trouble, they noticed an odd figure coming toward them. The figure approached, revealing itself to be a young boy dressed in white and red, with white hair draped across most of his face. He shambled forward with a wobbly gait that made it seem as if he were somehow intoxicated, drugged, or otherwise taken out of his senses. "What's a little runt like you doin' out this time of night?" Wolf asked the boy smugly.

"Yeah, don't you know?" Panther added with a sly smile. "There's a bloodthirsty killer on the loose in these parts."

The boy kept walking past them, mumbling something under his breath. "What'd you say, kid?" Wolf growled.

"Not human," the boy murmured, just at audible levels. "...Not worth the effort."

"What the hell?!" Leon shouted. "Racist little punk!" He lunged at the boy, a switchblade in hand, but was shoved away into a nearby wall with surprising strength. "Augh," he moaned, grabbing his head where he had hit the wall. "God, what even _are_ you?"

"...You guys said there was a bloodthirsty killer on the loose, right...?" the boy asked ominously. His face gained an unsettling grin. He reached behind his back and drew a pair of swords, their blades stained a dull red. Without the slightest hesitation, he slashed his swords at both Leon and Panther.

"Oh god—!" Wolf screamed. Thinking quickly, he pulled a concealed blaster out from under his jacket. He fired at the boy, but with superhuman speed he reflected the weapon's beam with his sword. The reflected beam shot right into Wolf's eye before he could even process what had happened. He grabbed at his eye and howled in pain.

"Think I should finish them off, then?" the boy asked, though the person he was supposedly asking was nowhere to be found. "...Huh," he finally said after a pause. "Guess you're right." The boy sheathed his swords and, no longer showing any of his initial weak façade, leapt away into the night, leaving the three thugs to their own devices with their injuries.

* * *

"God dammit, Ivo, I swear next time you ditch me at the midnight showing I'm gonna break your favorite laser cannon!" Bowser growled to himself as he ran (well, as best a Koopa of his size _can_ run) down the nearly empty streets. "Crap, man, you were supposed to be my ride home! I can't afford another damn late arrival!" At that moment, a person landed in front of Bowser. It was a boy dressed in white and red, a single large, red eye visible through his messy white hair. "Hey, watch where you're landing', ya little runt!" Bowser shouted. "I'm havin' a bad enough night as it is!"

The boy looked up at Bowser, his single-eyed stare boring into Bowser like a creepy laser. "Another one?" the boy muttered, drawing his swords.

Bowser glared at the boy. He may not have been one of the smartest Koopas he knew, but he could always see the signs of when a fight was about to start. "You don't wanna do that," he said with a cocky smirk. "You have _no_ idea who you're dealing with."

The boy said nothing, instead choosing to swing one of his swords at Bowser. The Koopa blocked the sword strike with one of his wristbands, punctuating the first strike with an angry growl. "What's your deal, punk?!" Bowser grabbed the sword and threw it aside, along with the boy holding firmly onto its hilt. The blade left a shallow cut in his scaly palm, though seeing it caused him to wince more than the pain from it would have.

Seemingly unfazed, the boy jumped back up and ran at Bowser, screaming, swords outstretched at his sides. "Back for seconds, huh?" Bowser laughed arrogantly. He took in a breath and released it as a long stream of flame in the boy's direction. The boy dodged all of Bowser's fire breath shots with unbelievable speed. He had almost reached Bowser again with enough range to make a decent strike with his swords when a side door opened beside them and a man in a bathrobe and slippers stepped out.

"Hey, you rowdy hooligans!" the man shouted, shaking his fist at Bowser and his opponent. "If you're gonna fight in the streets, take it somewhere else! I've got kids sleeping in there and I'm not afraid to call the police if you keep up the disturbance!"

Immediately the boy stopped his attack, one of his swords mere inches away from Bowser's face. Confused, Bowser could only stare as the boy's face developed into a twisted, sadistic grin. "You're human, aren't you?" the boy asked, turning his head to face the man but otherwise remaining perfectly still.

The man was unnerved by the boy's mannerisms. "Uh...y-yeah, what does that have to do with anything?" he shakily asked.

The boy's smile grew wider. "Perfect." Before either the man or Bowser could react, the boy leapt at the man and plunged one of his swords straight into the man's heart. Bowser could only watch in horror as the man keeled over, dead on the spot. However, the truly gruesome event still had yet to take place. The boy took his other sword and impaled it into the corpse as well, both blades absorbing the blood from his kill like sharp metal sponges. Once he was sure all of the blood had been completely drained, the boy removed his swords from the body, their blades now entirely crimson red. "This'll be enough for now, right?" the boy asked. A long pause, then his smile faltered. "...Well, I can't do much more tonight, I have too many witnesses..."

Bowser stared at both the boy and the dead man, stunned from what he had just witnessed. "V...vampire...?" he choked out quietly.

The boy sheathed his swords and turned away from the gruesome sight as if it were no more interesting than a bag of trash on the side of the road. "Zero," the boy said.

"What...?"

"That's what he calls me."

The boy walked away, disappearing into the shadows. It took a while for Bowser to finally snap out of the shock that the situation had put him in. He took out his phone to call 911, but his cell phone battery was dead. He cursed under his breath. A commotion was heard from inside the building and a woman exited, shrieking upon seeing the man's body. "Mike!" the woman sobbed, falling down to her knees and grasping the body of her husband. "Oh god, Mike!" She looked up and noticed Bowser standing above them. "What happened to him?!"

"What does it look like happened to him?!" Bowser shouted. "Call the cops, my phone's dead!"

The woman nodded, going back into the building. Shortly afterward, a couple of police cars and an ambulance arrived. The EMTs loaded Mike's drained body into the ambulance, but because it was obvious that he was beyond saving they didn't bother to turn on the siren or lights. The police took Bowser's statement, not batting an eye when he mentioned the possibility of an assailant being a vampire or vampire-like entity. "Thank you for your cooperation, young man," one of the officers said. "Now we're going to need you to come down to the station with us."

Bowser was understandably confused. "What? Why?"

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," another officer told him. "We just need to iron out the details of your statement in a safer location."

Bowser groaned in annoyance, but complied with the officers and squeezed into the back of the squad car.

* * *

What had been described as "ironing out the details of the statement" had soon been turned into a full-on interrogation. The chief of police, Captain Strong, and another officer were in an interrogation room with Bowser, and Strong was doing his best to grill him. "And you claim the victim was murdered by some sort of... _vampire_ , was it?" he asked, the disbelief clear in his voice. "You do realize this is the real world and not one from a horror film, right, Morton?"

"For the last time, _yes!_ " Bowser insisted. He wasn't as frustrated as he normally would be from being called his birth name because he knew there was no reason for cops to know his preferred handle even if they looked up his record of misdemeanors, but the annoyance of his account not being taken seriously by this old man with a badge trumped that regardless. "I don't know if he was an actual vampire or just screwed up in the head, all I know is that the kid stabbed the guy and his swords drained out all his blood."

"And what of the scorch marks on the ground?" Captain Strong asked. "Your record shows that you have fire abilities, I don't know the specifics but the point still stands that there was burning involved. Explain that."

"I already told you," Bowser said, trying his best to keep his frustration from making itself noticeable. "Me and the kid were fighting before the guy showed up."

The other officer in the interrogation room, a humanoid dog by the name of Officer Copper, groaned, sensing that this was getting all three of them nowhere. "Geez, Captain, give the kid a break," he told the captain. "He just witnessed a _murder_ , for crying out loud."

"Witnessed?" Captain Strong scoffed. "Are you entirely sure that he was just a witness?"

"Of course!" Officer Copper insisted. "Strangeness of the identity of the assailant aside, Captain, you need to look at the facts." He held out a finger with each fact he reminded the captain of. "We took his prints and there's no evidence of him ever touching the victim's body. No burns on the victim, the only clear prints being his own or those of his wife. There's no blood on this kid, no records of him being capable of draining blood from a body. The stab wound on the vic is way too deep to have been caused by anything other than a sword, like he described, or an abnormally large and difficult to conceal knife, neither of which were found at the scene. Not to mention the statement he gave corroborates with the details of an assault case that came in earlier tonight."

"Are you challenging me again, Copper?" Captain Strong asked, his tone having a dark seriousness to it.

"If it keeps you from trying to incarcerate an innocent teen, then yes, yes I am," Officer Copper said.

Captain Strong growled in annoyance. "Fine," he said in annoyance. "Get his parents on the phone. We're done here."

Captain Strong left the room. Officer Copper sighed, then turned to Bowser. "Don't take it personally, okay?" Officer Copper said, giving Bowser as warm a smile as he could manage given the tense atmosphere. "The captain's a bit...old-fashioned, if you know what I mean. He does this kinda thing to a lot of non-humans, especially if they've already got a record." He sighed. "I really wish he'd retire already when he starts up with this nonsense. But in all seriousness, we'll keep an eye out for this white-haired vampire imitator. Thanks for the cooperation, Morton."

"So I'm free to go, then?" Bowser asked.

"As soon as we get your parents to come pick you up, yeah," Officer Copper said. "If your story's true, and to me it sounds like a lot of the major elements are, it'll be safer for you that way." Officer Copper left the room, leaving Bowser to sit alone until his parents arrived half an hour later.

* * *

The next morning, Ivo sat in class next to an empty desk, tapping his notebook nervously with his pen. He was concerned that he hadn't heard anything from Bowser the previous night. He knew his friend had been at the movies and had every attempt to come pick him up at the end as planned, but his parents had unexpectedly come home early at his intended time to leave, and when he called to explain it had gone straight to voicemail. Halfway through class, the door opened and Bowser slowly shuffled in, handed a late note to the teacher, and made his way to his seat. "What the hell happened last night?" Ivo asked.

"I'll tell you later," Bowser said.

After class, Ivo and Bowser hung around the classroom entrance for a bit. "Okay, seriously, what was up last night?" Ivo asked again.

"You're one to talk, ditchin' me like that!" Bowser growled.

"I tried to call and explain but you wouldn't answer," Ivo said. "Did your phone crap out or something?"

"Believe me, that's not the only thing that happened." Bowser shook his head, then lowered his voice. "I ended up having to spend some time with the cops."

Ivo groaned. He was used to hearing stuff like this by now. "Not again...what stupid thing did you get in trouble for _this_ time?"

"It wasn't anything _I_ did!" Bowser insisted. "Though the way the cop was grillin' me it would make you think otherwise..." He sighed. "I ran into the person behind those weird blood-draining killings. I saw him get another guy."

A slight bit of the whites of Ivo's eyes could be seen around the darkened lenses of his glasses, indicating just how unsettled this statement made him. "...Seriously?"

Bowser nodded. "Yup. And I was _right_ about it being a vampire!" he half-exclaimed, though he tried to keep his voice down so as not to alarm anyone else. "Or at least...his swords were vampires somehow? I dunno how it works. Either way, I watched him drain the dude! It was gross. Zero out of ten, wouldn't watch again." Ivo said nothing, merely staring at him in shock. "What's wrong?" Bowser asked. "No comeback about how vampires are stupid and my theories don't make sense or anything?"

"I don't think now's really the time for that," Ivo said darkly. "Actual vampire or not, there's no doubt that what you witnessed was incredibly messed-up."

"Yeah." As the time between classes grew shorter, the two parted ways to their next respective classes, with Bowser left pondering one strange detail of the previous evening. "But why did he give me his name?" he muttered to himself. "What kind of asshole names their kid 'Zero', anyway?"

* * *

The white attire Zero wore did little to conceal him in the darkness as he wandered through the night. However conspicuous he may have been, he didn't seem to attract any unwanted attention. He made his way down an alleyway with his typical seemingly-drunk walk, approaching a man dressed similarly in white, his face hidden in shadow. Zero looked up at the man, an odd bit of apologetic fear present in his only visible eye. "Sorry, Zycra," he said, somewhat nervously. "I couldn't find any more tonight."

The man stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to indeed be Masterson's estranged brother. "I know, and it is no fault of yours," Zycra told his young charge. "People are good at recognizing patterns. They've probably wizened up and stayed hidden in their homes."

"Do you think I'll still be able to get enough to become an angel like you said?" Zero asked.

Zycra put his hand on Zero's shoulder and smiled, a sinister gleam in the eye that was not obscured by his eyepatch or similarly-positioned hair part. "Trust me, my boy. I've got an alternate plan that will take care of everything."

* * *

AN: Welp, I've finally gotten all the chapters posted here caught up to what was already available on deviantART. Yay! This was my favorite chapter to work on thus far, as it finally reached a point in the overarcing plot that I'd been wanting to get to for some time, and even all these months later I'm still really proud of how it came out.

Now to get to some things that I've been meaning to address for the FF reviewers that I've honestly been forgetting. To the people who had been asking about Lucas, he and Claus will be appearing in the next chapter, though the chapter doesn't focus on them and as such they will only be making a brief appearance in the beginning. I'll likely find a good time to have more focus on them later. To Ender2142 in regards to the identity of Ivo and Vivi, you are correct in assuming that Ivo is this story's equivalent of Eggman (using his full name of "Ivo Robotnik" rather than his ovoid alias), though as for Vivi he probably technically shouldn't be here. In technical terms he is this story's equivalent of the Black Mage from the Final Fantasy series, though his name and personality is largely taken from Vivi Ornitier from Final Fantasy 9. I had kind of a standard for character inclusion in that if they weren't in the Smash Bros. series they had to appear in a game on a Nintendo console (be it original release or a port), but I couldn't resist making the Black Mage be Vivi. (Though now with the announcement of Cloud being in Smash 4 as DLC I'm going to have to figure out how to dance around that as this universe features the PS1 FF games as actual games...)

So yeah, after this updates aren't going to be nearly as regular on this end as they have been. All of the chapters up to this point had been pre-written before I even rebooted my FF account, so there was no lengthy period of actual writing process for you guys to have to wait through. Rest assured, though, you guys will be getting the release of all forthcoming chapters the same day (or at least roughly in the same 24-hour period, to account for my occasional forgetfulness and easily distracted nature) as they go up on deviantART. I'd still recommend checking there for extra stuff (username PuppyLuver), such as appropriate musical selection and character bios. And with that, I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Jess out!


End file.
